In the courtroom of the king's castle, back in the great province of Metrodorian, a meeting was in session.
It was a suffocating affair.
The air was heavy, the gold and the vintage wine did nothing to dissolve the weight of anxiety and the fear of annihilation.
King Alfred sat on his throne, his chin resting on a fist.
His tired eyes were set on the marble floor of his courtroom, not a single thought behind them. The jovial king was gone.
With Percival refusing his role in this timeline, the king could not laugh or jeer, or enjoy a nice meal of duck breast.
He was now a monarch watching his kingdom's hourglass run out of sand.
Around him sat the pillars of Valoris.
Luvar, a nobleman with a face like a hawk; Otharus, old and wheezing; and Thanlor, whose fingers drummed nervously on his knee.
Ulcraft, impatient as always, sat with his arms crossed, while Grigor sipped from his diamond cup with a hidden smile.
