Months Before~
The mansion sat on the edge of the former noble district of Intin, framed by high marble walls and gilded balconies that overlooked its private gardens.
Within those walls, history did not march — it lingered.
Queen Hayna walked barefoot through the violet-washed colonnade, trailing her fingers along the vine-covered walls like a priestess on procession.
Her golden hair, once bound in the intricate coils of a sovereign queen, now flowed loose and wild.
She wore a silken robe dyed in Parthian reds, too fine for a woman no longer ruling, too sheer for a woman no longer concerned.
But Hayna no longer walked in this world.
She whispered as she walked — not to the guards who stood silent and impassive at every archway, but to her imaginary court.
Generals.
Ministers.
Courtiers who had died or bowed to Julius over a year ago already..
"The Legion's flank has weakened,"