Day Twenty of Tutoring.
The inspection did not begin with a knock. It began with the temperature rising ten degrees.
We were in the middle of a history lesson. Ellia was reciting the lineage of the Third Era, looking bored but competent. Bastion was reviewing a map of the borderlands. I was grading a math test (Ellia got a B+, mostly because she argued that if you include taxes).
Then, the doors groaned.
They didn't just open; they were pushed open by a wave of heat and light.
Emperor Leonis strode in.
He was magnificent and terrifying. He wore white and gold robes that seemed to shimmer with actual sunlight. His mane was perfectly groomed, framing a face that was identical to Bastion's, yet completely different. Where Bastion was a shadow, Leonis was a solar flare.
He didn't come alone. He was flanked by the Royal Scribe and two elite Solar Guards (Golden Lions in full plate armor).
"Brother," Leonis boomed. His voice vibrated in my chest.
