Chapter 23: First Cut
The clink of glasses fell to silence.
All eyes turned to the raised platform as Iris, daughter of the Emperor and storm of the court, rose to her feet. The long sleeves of her black gown swept against the table as she moved, elegance made from shadow and light.
Her gaze swept the room.
Measured. Sharp.
Then she spoke.
"You all know why you’re here."
The words rang clear across the hall, quieting even the low hum of mana from enchanted torches. She did not shout. The authority in her tone was enough.
"Not for fine wine or formal greetings," Iris continued. "You are here because a struggle for the crown might be distant, but inevitable."
A beat passed. No one dared shift.
"You aren’t here for diplomacy, but evaluation. You stand here because I believe each of you may possess something worthy of my time—strength. I don’t mean just brute power, but the kind that moves nations, bends fate, carves names into stone."
Her gaze drifted over them, pausing on faces as though weighing their worth.
"However," she said, voice colder now, "belief is not certainty. You will prove yourselves. Here. Tonight."