The banquet hall was too clean.
Red carpet ran the length of it, unbroken by the wreckage that had chewed up every other room on this floor. A long table stretched down the center, candles burning without smoke, plates set at twenty places though no food sat on any of them and no chair but one had been used.
At the head of the table, a woman sat with her wings folded behind her chair and a maul resting against the wood beside her — black-red, wider than a man's chest, its head resting on the floor like it weighed more than the table it leaned on.
`[VALERIA — BRIDE OF COVETING]`
`[LEVEL: 96]`
`[HP: 56,000 / 56,000]`
`[WEAPON: WANTBREAKER MAUL]`
"Sit," Valeria said, and gestured at the empty places along the table like a hostess counting late guests. "You've earned a seat. Everyone who reaches this room has earned one."
Nobody moved toward the table.
