Talios-Chapter 66: Conference

All the ruckus didn’t matter here—at least not directly.

Following behind the High Eunuch was The Queen and Her Sister Eihpos, since after leaving Ajab’s room they had not dial down on their hearty chatters as they walked. And before long they got to a massive door, which was made opened by the Doormen. The Eunch in charge of announcing arrivals remained at his position, not a single word leaving his lips, just bowing in greeting like everyone else as the two made their way through, no one also minding the silence, knowing full well what sort of arrangement laid ahead, or better yet what appointment. The massive doors revealed the inwards of a Massive room, everything about it clouded in splendour, it was the King’s Court. Yet Inside, it laid bare, empty as it was dim. This also caused for no particular alarm, as the duo still followed the High Eunuch. And walking straight up, to a particular corner before a plain looking wall, the Eunch stood still on a particular spot, before it paved way, the walls gliding aside like paved doors, unveiling an inside, only brightening up as they entered—an effect peculiar to them.

This was the King’s Inner Court. It is known in the annex of power that, only by the King’s summon can one access this place, risking a beheading entering out of self accordance, except passivied by the King Himself.

The inner court felt composed—measured in every detail. Smaller than the outer grounds, yet far from modest, it carried the confidence of a space that never needed to prove its importance. Stone lights lined the walls with surgical precision, their glow cool and even, washing the chamber in a calm, colorless clarity. The light revealed smooth surfaces, immaculate joins, and the quiet logic of design—nothing ornamental, nothing wasted. The mechanized wall enclosing the court moved in subtle cycles, panels shifting almost imperceptibly, a low, controlled hum threading through the air.

At the center sat a round table, perfectly balanced within the room. Its surface was spotless, untouched by clutter or mark, reflecting the stone light in muted gradients. A limited ring of seats surrounded it—not many, not few—each placed to enforce proximity without comfort. The air here smelled faintly metallic, clean, and regulated, as if filtered continuously.

The inner court received them without ceremony.

Stone lights traced the walls with cool, even glow, washing the round table at the center in precise clarity. The King remained seated, still and deliberate. Around him, the Generals rose in near-perfect unison as the Queen entered. Their robes shifted with the motion, folds settling without sound, rhythm exact. She did not slow. Did not glance. The room bent itself subtly around her presence. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

Yoab followed half a step behind, close enough to read the space, distant enough to hold herself. Every line of her posture spoke of readiness, of contained force; she did not need the Queen to lead her. Ahead, the High Eunuch moved with quiet precision, staying just to the side, maintaining order without claiming it.

One General’s side rode uneven, robes brushing differently, a subtle offset in the otherwise perfect geometry. At the far end, seated slightly apart, the High Priestess remained composed, a quiet gravity in her robes. A veil, pale and fine, shrouded the upper line of her face, softening the glow of the stone lights and hinting at the unseen authority beneath. Her stillness alone carried weight—the room acknowledged it even without motion.

The table remained bare—smooth, unlit, deliberate. The Queen took her place. The room settled, measured and taut, every presence accounted for, every absence felt.

And with it they all assumed thier seat.

Yoab’s eyes circled back her gaze on a particular fellow his side unset and slightly uneven, she should certainly tell his situation, given as it was Linh, she could tell he definitely didn’t leave that brawl unscathed not that she expected anything else, though his body already hinted at its recovery. His face held slight expression, it wasn’t difficult to spot the amusement packed in his unflinching gaze, a faint smile touching his lips, amusement probably from his excruciating plummeling, or yet still from whatever filled his insides as his gaze were locked on the King.

Yet still his gaze wasn’t the only one with an unflinching tenacity, seated barely distanced from her, was Znoh, his black robe absorbing the stone light instead of reflecting it, a heavy contrast to the rest of the Generals, with everyone clouded in their robe of distinct colors each a match to his battalion and station. His gaze also were fixed on the King, their intent hardly concealed, almost causing a disrupt in the air around him.

Seated in silence the King adjusted his poise as he leaned in a little forward, his hands together neatly Infront of him holding his chin, he smiled, his eyes barely fixed on no one exactly, explicitly adborant to whatever gaze shot towards him.

"I see everyone is here." He said, his voice, neither loud nor disruptive, calmly blending well with the entire space moving like a ripple across the room. "Shall we start then?" It wasn’t a question.

With that the High Eunuch moved towards the table his hand moving with purpose, a recessed point was pressed, the table responded at once—light rising in precise lines, assembling into a hovering projection. The court adjusted around it, illumination dimming just enough to give the holographic image dominance, the room tightening its focus like a held breath.

This did nothing to those in the room, their disposition as steady as has been, a clear familiarity with the sight.

On it laid the entire topography of Izz, like a map, only more detailed. His hands still on the recessed point, the holographic imagine became centered around a certain area, the massive landmass that stood as space between the concerned borders and a large dune, only this wasn’t one of simple description, being a land earning the name; Die-land.

Taking his hands off and facing the table, his voice steady. "This is a much as can be displayed, the Ecnes Sky Eyes doesn’t go beyond the Free Space."

"Tsk..." Znoh’s eyes that of disdain, his voiced laced with it. "Calling it Sky Eyes doesn’t suffice? Does the name have to be attached?"

Looking over to the source of the voice, the High Eunuch inclined his head slightly. "The makers decided it’s name, I hope the General wouldn’t fault it." His voice held not disrespect, words carefully woven.

Znoh gave no response, but his eyes said it all. Having that out of the way the High Eunuch continued. "After the personal reports of the Generals, concerning the abnormaly spotted beyond the Die-land, some slight changes have began to unfold, though seemingly, it’s hard to put aide. It’s been discovered over the last couple days that The Ecnes Sky Eyes’ scope have began to shrink."

The faces across the table though stale thier eyes still bore questions about what that entailed.

His hands placed back at the recessed point, the view on the table began taking a different shade, zooming out, displaying more land, with a side of it inkled in grey. "What everyone can see it’s the encompassing view contained within the Eye, the shaded grey is the side out of view." With a slight hand motion the grey points deepened causing the view to shrink, although not by a huge margin. "This was put together from a week now and though barely noticeable on a large scale, the grayed area is now a couple Hectares of the Free Space gone out of view."

Most faces wore a frown at this.

"Lord Ecnes brought this report after the General’s report, it had been kept off because he was yet to make sense of it, with the General’s report bringing things to light. Also with the Words of the High Priestess."

"The words of the High Priestess were that the Lines were thining, though it caused for concern, its through cause and meaning only came to light recently, with the shrinking of the Ecnes Sky Eyes and the Still Sun Over the Horizon beyond the Die-land."

"It remains general knowledge that the Daylight over Izz, is but a mere reflection of the off Yellow Fire, Known as the Sun that only rises and sets beyond the Die-land, over the land of the Sand People. Izz remains an Utopia away from such scotch under the basking embrace of the Moon Goddess Dorovith, whose full eyes remains still every night. In ancient time at the first emergence of the Sand People, sailing over the Die-land, they called the Yellow Fire Sun, and thus what we know it as today. This strange people though welcomed, left because our coexistence bore no fruit, with them never able to withstand the absence of their true sun and the embrace of Dorovith. Now for some strange reasons, thier yellow fire seemed to have no setting time again and with that the shrinking of The Lines—Dorovith’s embrace. The Die-land....