The air inside the Rose Quartz Hall was suffocatingly warm, thick with the heavy scents of expensive perfumes, wine, and a little bit of panic.
While the strict order confining everyone to their individual assigned chambers had finally been lifted, no one was actually permitted to leave the palace grounds yet. Imperial guards still stood in rigid formation at every major exit, their polished breastplates reflecting the sunlight.
For a crowd used to absolute freedom and deference, being allowed out of their rooms only to be contained within the grand estate felt like a cruel joke.
