Natalie POV
The grand gallery was a coliseum of shifting shadows, burning pitch, and the terrifying, compressed weight of a thousand predatory eyes.
As the massive obsidian doors groaned open, the collective roar of conversation within the amphitheater died instantly, swallowed by an absolute, suffocating silence. The air was thick and stagnant, reeking of ancient cedar, expensive pipe smoke, and the volatile, underlying currents of raw Alpha aggression from every high lord and minor chieftain who had traveled from the border lands to the capital. They sat in rising tiers of dark walnut benches, their heavy fur cloaks and gold-trimmed tunics catching the erratic orange glare of the perimeter torches.
I kept my spine perfectly rigid, my chin lifted at an untouchable angle as Richard led
