The emergency council meeting convened at dawn in the neutral halls of Celestial Harmony Academy, a location chosen because it was the only place on the continent where all nine Great Family heads could meet without triggering territorial disputes or political complications.
The crystalline chambers that normally hosted academic conferences now buzzed with tension as the most powerful people on the continent gathered to address what Commander Edmund Riverside had described as "a direct attack on our family's honor and continental stability."
Headmaster Valdris moved through the assembled leadership with the careful neutrality that had kept the academy independent for centuries, but even his diplomatic composure couldn't entirely hide his concern about whatever crisis had prompted such unprecedented coordination between families that normally competed more than they cooperated.
