Chapter 355 - The Frozen Bloodline

The Stark family didn't rule Iskandriel — they were Iskandriel. Older than the Lionhart dynasty, older than the Rikxia Empire itself, their lineage stretched back to the First Frost, when the city's foundations were carved from a glacier that had swallowed an entire mountain range. While other ruling families traded silks and spices, negotiated treaties, or curated libraries of forgotten lore, the Starks maintained the walls. They were the ice that shielded the flame, the silence that guarded the song. For twenty centuries, they'd turned away emperors and invaders alike with a simple truth etched into every Stark soul: Strength is the only language outsiders understand.