Manu emerged from his chambers, the soft thud of his bare feet echoing against the marble floor, a trail of water dripping from his hair onto his shoulders and down his back.
His skin glistened under the soft glow of the throne room's braziers, with nothing but a loosely tied towel around his waist. The subtle steam rising from his body told of the bath he'd just taken, as if he hadn't the faintest care for the weight of the audience waiting before him.
The grand throne that was once stained by the blood of the late king, king Victor, who had been Chiron's uncle, had been scrubbed clean.
The rich crimson of the former monarch's death had been replaced by the gleaming sheen of the golden seat, by Elder Baldie's orders. but the air still carried the tension of power shifting violently.
Even within the kingdom, a lot of things had happened in the last few hours.
