A Toast to the Conquered

Malachi’s POV

The hall was alive with the kind of laughter that tasted better than wine — the kind that came when you had crushed your enemies and the world hadn’t even realised it yet. The fire roared in the hearth, the golden glow spilling across the long table, the polished cups, the half-empty plates where meat and bread had been abandoned in favour of more drink. My friends and guards leaned