The second bell cut through the hall like a blade,people stopped,plates froze halfway to mouths and the drums fell silent.
Eiji felt it first,the air changed,the light bent wrong. He knew before anyone spoke that something was closing in.
"Now," Melchior said, low and fast.
Rhea pushed back from the table,she stood before anyone could move and her hand went to her sword.
Vesper slid from her seat the way a shadow moves. She had three bone chips in her palm. She set them on the table and readied a sigil with the tip of her ring.
Selendra was already rising, tail tight,her eyes hunted every face and her smile was gone.
Borath rose from his throne. He laughed, but it was thin. "You try to move," he said. "You break a rule…the bell tolled twice. The game begins."
His mother stayed seated in the center of the hall,her blindfold was still white and clean. Her dress shimmered,the small sound she made as Borath spoke was not a laugh,it did not belong to a human throat.
