The obsidian door shut behind Cassius with a heavy click, echoing like a warning through the vast chamber.
He stood motionless just inside the threshold, the flickering torches casting uneven shadows across the black marble. A ripple of tension hung between them like the calm before a thunderstorm. The King was seated on the throne at the far end — not the grand, ceremonial seat, but the one forged of raw stone and magic deep beneath the Obsidian Throne.
He didn't speak immediately.
He didn't need to.
He only stared at Cassius for a long time.
Cassius didn't dare to speak first either. There was just silence in the air. Then finally the king spoke.
"Cassius," the King said, his voice quiet, but laced with the kind of restraint that comes only before violence.
Cassius bowed his head slightly. "My King."
The King's pale eyes narrowed, sharp as daggers. "You lied to me. You betrayed me."
Cassius's jaw twitched, but he said nothing. He continued bowing his head in shame.
