The great hall had never felt so small.
Chandeliers hung like frozen storms above the black-and-white marble, their crystal catching torchlight and throwing it back in cold, restless shards. Every tiered gallery was filled: wolf lords in velvet and silver chain, their mates glittering beside them, human officials and minor nobility clustered at the edges like wary birds, servants pressed against pillars with wide eyes and held breath.
No one spoke above a murmur. The silence pressed in, expectant, brittle.
The triplets entered first.
