Chapter 538 - Long day

The atmosphere inside the Great Hall was thick with the scent of charred rosemary, roasted meats, and heavy, spiced wine. Massive iron chandeliers hung low from the vaulted ceiling, their tallow candles casting a warm, amber glow across the long oak tables that groaned under the weight of the feast. For a night that had begun in the suffocating darkness of the Southern Wilds, the celebration felt almost surreal—a vivid blur of color, laughter, and clinking goblets that seemed entirely detached from the blood that had been spilled beneath the forest canopy only hours before.