Chapter 66: Game of Names and Power
After the fitting, Iris had asked Lan to follow her on a stroll through the imperial city. They dismissed the guards and took to the streets of the high district.
Slightly similar to the night they escaped it.
The towers of the city were like fangs around them—black and gold, spiked with lightning, pierced by floating crystal bridges and woven with banners that danced in the wind like the tongues of nobles mid-lie.
The sky above was bruised sapphire, thunderclouds crawling like watchful beasts far in the distance. And beneath it all, Lan walked beside a princess who would one day try to conquer it.
Iris was cloaked in midnight blue, trimmed with silver thread, a veil drawn loosely over her face.
Her eyes—storm-colored, as always—flicked to every shadow, every whisper, every passing gaze. She moved with purpose, even in silence. And Lan, for once, didn’t speak first.
They passed through the High District, the beating heart of the Empire’s wealth and rot. It was a place where marble streets gleamed unnaturally clean and every wall was enchanted to reflect light just a little too brightly. Manors floated. Spires sang.
Airships passed overhead like silent ghosts. Servants bowed in choreographed rhythms, never making eye contact. Magic kept everything pristine, detached from the chaos of the lower districts.
"This place feels odd," Lan muttered.
"It is," Iris said. "You’ll understand why eventually."
They stopped before a golden bridge that overlooked the lower courts, the market sprawl far below. From here, the Empire didn’t look like a kingdom. It looked more a machine.
Iris leaned against the railing and finally spoke the words he’d been waiting to hear.