Steel and Sorrow: Rise of the Mercenary king

Chapter 126: Reunion(1)

The vast imperial throne chamber was silent, save for the faint rustling of tapestries hanging from high walls. Empress Valeria sat regally on her throne, draped in royal finery that caught the flicker of the sunlight coming out through the windows.Beside her stood her son, Mesha, a boy of no more than ten winters, his young face filled with confusion. He shifted uneasily on his feet, glancing at his mother for some kind of reassurance.

Valeria caught his gaze, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly. The message was clear. Mesha straightened immediately, fixing his gaze forward, his confusion masked by forced composure. The air in the chamber was thick with tension as they waited for the arrival of the one person Valeria both feared and sought to emulate—her father, the man who cast a long shadow over the entire empire.

The heavy doors at the far end of the chamber finally creaked open, drawing the attention of every courtier lining the hall. Whispers died on the lips of those present, as the man who entered needed no introduction. Marthio, was a figure known to all, though few courtiers of low lineage had the courage to speak to him or of him.

Marthio was tall, his lean frame almost deceptively thin. His eyes, cold and calculating, were the same shade of piercing green that Valeria saw every day in the faces of her siblings and hers. He remember those eyes staring at her whenever she misbehaved that seemed to knwo the truth from lie. His hair, or what remained of it, was combed forward in a futile attempt to hide his advancing baldness, though it only served to highlight the starkness of his features. His jaw was sharp, his lips thin and unsmiling.

Valeria's hand tightened on the armrest of her throne, though her face remained a perfect mask of calm.@@novelbin@@