Important dinner

Keval sat in his father's chamber, his eyes flicking across the modest yet refined spread laid out before them. He couldn't help but notice that Mesha, the young emperor, was absent from the dinner table. That meant only one thing—this was to be a private and serious discussion.

His father was never one for idle meals; if he called Keval alone, it was because something needed to be said.

Over the past year, the two had worked closely to hold the reins of the empire, and Keval liked to think they had done so admirably. With his father's strength and experience guiding them and his own aptitude for administration, they had managed to steady the ship of state.