Warlock Ch 449. The Tribunal Chamber
The guards stood stiff at their posts, hands near weapons but not drawing. Tribunal clerks stared from upper balconies, their enchanted pens hovering mid-air, unsure if they should continue writing or start praying.
And the look in their eyes wasn't anger this time.
It was fear.
It was uncertainty.
Because this wasn't a boy in chains.
This was Damian Blackthorn walking in with half a royal entourage and the kind of backup that could cause a civil war if anyone so much as sneezed wrong.
They reached the inner gate.
The Grand Tribunal doors.
Tall. Towering. Covered in radiant blue sigils and a pressure that made everyone's skin crawl if they weren't welcome.
Two Magus Knights stood on either side, fully armored, their halberds resting on the floor. Their faces were unreadable behind polished helmets, but the subtle twitch in one of their gauntlets said enough.
"You may enter," one of them said, voice slightly cracked.
