The morning sun cast golden light through the elaborate windows of the Empress's private chambers—a suite of rooms that represented the absolute pinnacle of imperial luxury. Silk curtains from the eastern provinces, carpets woven with threads of gold, furniture carved from rare woods that had been aged for centuries. Everything in these rooms spoke of power, wealth, and refinement accumulated over generations.
Empress Valorina sat at her vanity, her ladies-in-waiting attending to her morning preparations. She was a woman in her late fifties, though one would be hard-pressed to guess it from her appearance. Her skin remained smooth, her figure still commanding, her beauty refined rather than diminished by age. She had borne the Emperor seven children, ruled the palace with absolute authority for three decades, and commanded respect from even the most powerful nobles in the empire.
This morning, however, her usual serene composure was troubled.
