The council chamber on the top floor of Skull Castle was like a deep well overturned onto the reefs.
The heavy granite walls sealed every side completely, leaving only a narrow air vent in the center of the dome.
Moonlight leaked in through that gap like an elongated silver needle, listlessly stabbing into the floor.
The round table sat in the middle, with three sea‑beast oil lamps burning on it. Their flames did not flicker, but rose straight up, burning with an eerie, ghastly green.
The lamplight was stretched without end, thrown onto the walls, twisting the seated figures into clawing, raving monstrosities.
Rosa sat in one of the seats, her single eye sweeping coldly around the round table.
The first to crash into her line of sight was the bone‑crusher Kane.
The brute had planted both feet—boots studded with spikes—right on the tabletop, one hand clutching a raw lamb shank that was still oozing blood, tearing at it meat and bone together.
