Chapter 519 - Refuge for the Dethroned, Glory for the Named (1)

Golden light spilled across the polished tiles of the Celestine Manor as Lyan stepped through its threshold, cloak trailing a comet-tail of ash that dissolved the instant it touched the entry wards. The late-evening hush inside the manor was the sort that cost a month's wages for a single night—the cultivated silence of nobles who preferred their questions unanswered and their scandals unseen. Somewhere far down a corridor a harp plucked a single note, as if to remind the air it was expensive.