Chapter 93: The Iron ReconciliationThe dawn that finally broke over Solis-Vael did not bring warmth; it merely traded the terrifying orange glow of the incendiary fires for a cold, clinical gray.The storm had finally receded into the western channel, leaving behind a thick, low-hanging mist that clung to the ruined harbor docks like a shroud. The water in the bay was dead calm, its surface littered with the black charcoal of shattered hulls, floating debris, and the pale, bloated remnants of the Sultan’s pride. Smoke still rose in lazy, thin plumes from the lower fish-markets, where teams of city watchmen were already hard at work pulling down unsafe structural beams and tossing ruined cargo into salvage piles.Inside the great hall of the Iron Bastion, the silence was absolute.Natalia sat at the head of the heavy oak war table, her silver-etched blade resting bare across the scarred timber before her. She had stripped away her heavy, soot-stained armor, wearing only a simple tunic
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