Chapter 74: Thalessia Vire Aelinhart
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.
Before her stretched a lavish suite of impossible detail. Velvet drapes in rich garnet. Tables of carved mahogany. Gold-trimmed chairs arranged beside a vanity—a dressing table unlike any she’d seen. It glittered with jewel-inlaid boxes, combs of ivory, and delicate crystal flasks that held perfumes and oils she couldn’t name.
Her eyes fixed on the ointments lined up in precise order—jars of muted black, others of rose and moonlight blue. She uncorked one. The scent—floral, but deeper, almost primeval—wrapped around her like a whisper of time itself.
These aren’t from this era...
It hit her like a revelation. Everything in this room felt ancient. Not old, but timeless. As if plucked from a civilization lost to memory and sealed away for someone... like her? No. That thought felt too indulgent.
She turned her head sharply at the sound of a voice.
"Don’t worry about them."