[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/C5mroYK.png[/img]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/g2U0jda.png[/img]
[h3][color=RosyBrown]Time: Evening[/color]
[color=RosyBrown]Location: The Royal Banquet[/color][/h3]
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmPvSOTrS-4[/youtube][/center]

[color=lightgray]
The hall was already fraying at the seams.

What had begun as a banquet was unraveling into something else entirely. Tension clung to every word, too thick to ignore and too dangerous to name. The wine had long since lost its warmth, laughter had thinned into strained and uncomfortable chuckles, and the air felt tight with the weight of threats and scandal alike. 

No one noticed the draft, not at first.

The first sound came softly. A metallic scrape, barely audible over the music and chatter. Then it came again, heavier this time. A slow drag across the marble floor, steady and deliberate, it increased in volume with every second that passed. 

Then the doors opened.

Not with drama. Not with force. They opened with perfect calm, but if the creaking of these banquet doors hadn’t of draw attention… The presence of the man behind them would have. 

The wind came in first, a cool breath that kissed the flames and swept along the floor. Candles guttered, voices faltered, heads began to turn. Conversations stuttered and fell silent mid-sentence. And then [i]a force of nature[/i] walked through the doors.

There was nothing rushed in his movements. No need for speed or spectacle. He stepped into the hall with the kind of control that demanded attention on its own. His coat was long and black, trimmed in blood-colored thread so dark it only showed in the reflection of light. His boots left an echo behind them, perfectly paced, and every step felt heavier than the last. His hair was tousled by the night air, stark white and wind-whipped…And his eyes…sharp green, cold and unblinking, swept across the room without hesitation.

In his hand, he held a chain.

Thick and iron-wrought, blackened by time and soot, it wound around his gloved palm and dragged behind him as he walked. The sound of it cut through the silence with a steady rhythm. Each link scraped against the marble floor with the weight of wicked anticipation.

He said nothing, and yet his eyes somehow met those of every single person in the room.

The banquet had gone quiet. Completely. People shifted in their seats but didn't speak.

The man kept walking, each step brought more of the chain forward, and the question it asked grew louder in every heart.

What was on the other end?

He reached the center of the hall and came to a slow, deliberate stop. Not near the head table, not before the king…No he stood in the perfect center of the room, where no one could pretend they didn’t see him. The chain pulled taut behind him, stretched to its full length. Then, without a word, he gave it a single pull.

The sound of it echoed.

From the darkened corridor, the figure stumbled forward.

A woman, bound and gagged, dragged into view by the chain coiled around her wrists and waist. She wore white, a dress once regal now soaked and torn at the hem. Her bare feet slipped against the floor. Her hair fell in damp strands around her face, and her eyes…wide and searching…looked for someone who might help her and found no one.

She was not a stranger, not to all of them at least. Some knew this woman as a server, last seen at the birthday party for Lord Drake Edwards. The one where everyone wound up drunk in the most suspicious of fashions. 

The moment stretched. Gasps slipped from noble lips, but still, Kilian didn’t speak.

He didn’t look at her.

His attention lifted, slow and unshaken, and settled on the throne. More specifically, on the queen seated beside her king. His gaze passed over the man entirely as if he were a shadow dressed in a crown.

When he inclined his head, it was precise, not respectful but not cold, either. Just perfectly measured and controlled. 

Then finally, came his voice. Smooth and calm, but low and rich with quiet certainty.

[color=RosyBrown]“Forgive the interruption, Your Majesty. I’m sure you were moments away from my introduction.”[/color]

He paused, letting the words stretch and settle.

[color=RosyBrown]“But I thought it might be time someone brought a little decorum back to this celebration.”[/color][/color]