Iron Hearth Castle – Northreach City Square. Wedding Day – 09:00 AM.
The city of Northreach had ground to a halt. It wasn't the silence of a siege or the stillness of a winter storm; it was the vibrant, chaotic standstill of a Great Feast.
The main boulevard, usually occupied by heavy steam-trucks and patrolling soldiers, was now covered in a seamless red carpet that stretched for nearly two kilometers—a feat of logistical madness personally ordered by Duchess Aurelia. Thousands of citizens lined the streets, dressed in their finest Sunday clothes, waving small silk flags embossed with the Golden Lion of Sudrath. The air was thick with the scent of roasted meat and celebratory mana-incense, making the entire city feel like it was breathing joy.
Inside the castle walls, however, the atmosphere was more tense than a frontline defense bunker during an artillery barrage.
The Groom's Preparation Room.
