Alex sat on the throne.
Varon stood beside him in silence, and even as minutes slipped by, none broke it. The room around them had emptied out entirely by now, the clan leaders gone, Elmara gone, the great chamber left to its own quiet, leaving the two to sit with their own thoughts, each working through a version of the same problem from a different angle.
Between the two of them, they represented the Domain's two most influential figures. Alex was its Ruler. Varon was its strongest Guardian. And with the future ahead of them as turbulent as it had already proven itself to be, both of them had considerably more work waiting than either had time to properly sit with.
Alex was the Ruler, and even though being the Ruler did not mean he would personally carry the weight of every strategy, every daily communication with clan leaders, every decision required to respond to incursions, still his burden was no less heavy.
