The day of final preparation arrived without ceremony.
By midday, the great reception hall within Seraphina's residence at the castle of Valor had already been arranged for the gathering. The room was large enough to host a royal banquet, but today there was no music, no decoration meant to flatter the eye, no attempt to soften the purpose of the meeting.
A long central arrangement of tables and seats had been set with careful spacing, leaving enough room for every faction that mattered to speak, observe, and commit itself before the war to come. Guards stood outside the chamber doors in double formation, silent and disciplined. Even before anyone spoke, the atmosphere carried the weight of something that would be remembered.
