Chapter 99 - oath

The banquet hall breathed like a living creature—silk banners inhaling, lanterns exhaling—its thousand tiny flames trembling above a sea of polished heads and gleaming cups. Red draperies framed the high dais; gold-thread tassels lifted and fell in the faint circulation of warm, perfumed air. At the center of the dais, two thrones waited—one lacquered a deep imperial vermilion, the other set beside it for the visiting monarch in serene blue—while below, an avenue of ceremonial mats led to a low stone basin filled at dawn with river water, perfectly still, clear as an eye that misses nothing.