But the foreign envoys had left no instructions, and no court musician in the empire had ever possessed the raw physical power or the technique required to play them. Left entirely untouched, the strange instruments had been forgotten in the dark corners of the imperial vaults for years.
No one understood why Lady Seera had requested them.
Under Heena's silent, precise direction, the sweating servants arranged the seven great drums into a wide, imposing semicircle.
She stepped into the absolute center. Surrounded by the towering Nagara drums, her deep bloody-red and black robes stood out like a dark flame trapped within a ring of white moons.
The court musicians watched her quietly, gripping their instruments. She had already given them their tempo. With a single, subtle nod from Heena, the hall fell into a suffocating, dead silence.
Then—a single, haunting note from a bamboo flute pierced the air.
