Inside the sound-severed strategy pavilion at the center of the Cloud-Mist sanctuary, the languid, blossom-scented warmth of the past two weeks gave way within minutes to the crisp, electric focus of an imperial war council.
All eight women had slipped into elegant, newly tailored robes of silk and brocade—Princess Gu Ling in her pale-lavender envoy vestments, Ling Ying in deep emerald martial silk, Princesses Huang Mei and Huang Hua in their gold-embroidered court gowns, and the Yue mother-and-daughter pair along with the Su twins standing attentively behind Alaric's high-backed sandalwood chair with warm towels and spirit-tea.
Across the twelve-foot expanse of the dark jade strategy table, Imperial Princess Huang Mei and Imperial Princess Huang Hua had just unrolled a massive, multi-layered scroll crafted from woven golden dragon-silk and translucent spirit-jade plates.
