Chapter 215 - Chapter Two Hundred And Fifteen

A week felt like a lifetime. Ryan sat rigidly upright in the hard-backed chair designated for him, facing the long, imposing table of the Royal Council. Sunlight streamed through the tall, arched windows of the grand chamber, illuminating dust motes dancing in the air, but doing little to warm the cold, heavy atmosphere within. Polished shields bearing the crests of noble houses adorned the stone walls, silent witnesses to generations of judgments and decrees. He remembered standing confidently before this very council only months ago, briefing them as the lead investigator into the country's gruesome murders. Today, he was the accused.