When an eclipse falls without warning, the temples awaken.
And when a consort survives an attack of dark power, the gods demand proof.
The High Council summoned the ancient ceremony of the Imperial Bond Trial, a forgotten rite that was only performed when the union between an emperor and their consort altered the spiritual balance of the empire.
It was a test for bodies.
A trial for hearts.
A direct gaze from the gods.
The ceremony took place deep within the Temple of the Sacred Heart, among columns carved with the names of ancient emperors and their consorts.
The air was heavy with the scent of ancient incense, mixed with the echo of forgotten prayers. Each step that Suwei and Jin Long took resonated like a heartbeat of time.
There, before the ancestral fire, they had to enter together.
Without armor.
Without crowns.
Only skin, soul... and truth.
The priests bowed before them, their robes brushing the floor while their eyes seemed to see beyond the present.
