Chief Elder Malcolm Vance remained on his knees upon the cold marble stones of Cloud Peak Villa, his tears wetting the yellow silk of the scroll. The eighty-year-old elder trembled before Dustin, clutching the golden cylinder against his chest as if his very life depended on it. Around the courtyard, the twenty motorcycle outriders kept their heads bowed in deep, fearful silence."Supreme Sovereign Prince Dustin, please listen to the cries of your dying clan!" Malcolm Vance wailed, his voice cracking with theatrical sorrow. "The great Imperial Sovereign Vance Trust is standing on the edge of a bottomless cliff, and only your royal hands can pull us back!" he sobbed openly.Dustin stood tall at the bottom of the terrace steps, his father's white coat resting neatly over his shoulders. His dark eyes remained calm, cold, and still as a frozen mountain lake, showing no pity for the weeping elder. Beside him, Seraphina held her head high, her silver eyes watching the old man with razor-sha