The moment she stepped through the door he held open, light—brilliant and blinding—struck her eyes with divine force. She recoiled instinctively, raising her arm in a rigid, practiced gesture to shield herself.
Then, slowly, the light faded. Or perhaps her eyes adjusted. And what she saw—what she walked into—was something no noble upbringing could have prepared her for.
A room. No, a sanctum.
Luxurious beyond reason. Grand in ways that mocked even the decadent opulence of high nobility.
She stood on a floor of polished marble, pale cream with veins of gold, so smooth it reflected her figure back at her like glass. Tall arched windows let in the moonlight—except… no moon she recognized. The sky outside shimmered with unknown stars.
