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Tyrant Luciano Zarkov The guards dragged Percy Langford into the lower council chamber shortly after the court session ended. The room was quieter than the grand hall above. No governors. No elders. No audience hungry for spectacle. Only black marble walls, silver lamps burning low, and the heavy weight of silence pressing down on everyone present. Percy’s wrists were still bound behind his back as the guards forced him forward. He stumbled once but quickly steadied himself, standing tall despite the restraints. “Leave us.” The guards released him immediately and retreated, the heavy doors closing with a resonant thud behind them. Now it was only the three of us. I studied Percy for a long moment, hands clasped behind my back. Exhaustion sat beneath his eyes, but his posture remaine