The massive double doors of the grand assembly hall were hewn from aged mahogany and reinforced with bands of cold, hammered iron, yet they seemed entirely weightless against the crushing atmospheric pressure of the room. Outside, the morning mists of the Shadowfall Domain clung to the high limestone battlements like damp wool, muffling the distant, rhythmic marching of the outer defense patrols. Inside, forty-two sovereign delegations sat frozen in absolute, breathless silence.
There were one hundred and fifty-two chapters remaining until the final, binding ratification of the continental treaties—one hundred and fifty-two legislative sessions that would permanently lock the old imperial factions into a framework of international law, resource equity, and absolute accountability. But his
