The guard at the gate motioned forward, his heavy hand taking my elbow to help steady my shaky steps as we passed through the archway. Before I could even adjust my weight, two towering warriors broke away from their posts and stepped in to replace the nurses. They took hold of my arms with a firm, practiced grip, lifting me just enough that my toes barely grazed the stone path, sparing my battered body from carrying my own weight. They moved like pair of living crutches carved entirely from muscle and bone.
We shuffled through a modest hallway that felt worlds apart from his main fortress. The intimidating atmosphere of his usual domain was completely absent here. Instead, the air carried a cool, calming quiet, simple and unpretentious. Plain stone walls stretched out on either side, wra
