However, Zavian could feel the energy in the air, tense like a wound-up cord ready to snap. Aaron must have spread his grief to his people and taught them the art of faking smiles and greetings at a King they had come to hate.
They reached Duke's home, grand and magnificent, and where the flags of Selesee had once hung at different posts and with window sills, flowers bursting with colours, the Duke's castle now bore an emptiness that belonged only to graveyards.
Zavian stopped before the Selesee guards who had come to escort him to Aaron. A bold move on the Duke's part, seeing as he had refused to come to greet the King himself.
Azriel was by his side, ever poised and ready to attack. His eyes were everywhere, and his men, the best, trailed after Zavian, half forming a ring around the King as they approached.
"Why do I feel we have to fight our way out of here today, Zavian?" Azriel asked as the guards led them into the mansion.
