The city did not sleep that night.
Music filled every street.
Drums echoed from one corner of the capital to another.
Lanterns hung across balconies and gates, glowing like small stars against the dark sky.
People danced in the roads.
Children ran through the crowd waving small banners.
Everywhere, the same faces appeared.
Vivian.
Sebastian.
Their names traveled from one street to another like fire in dry grass.
"Long live the bond!"
"Long live Vivian and Sebastian!"
Cheers rose again and again as the celebration spread across the city.
Inside the great council hall, however, the air was quieter.
More serious.
Lord Cassian stood at the head of the long council table.
The elders sat beside him.
Their faces still carried the weight of the trials that had just ended.
Sebastian and Vivian stood together in the center of the chamber.
Their hands were loosely joined.
Mrs. Ravenscroft stood close to Vivian.
