[The Royal Council Chamber, St. James's Palace – 1758.]
A dimly lit room in St. James's Palace, the air thick with pipe smoke and tension. Around a large oak table, Britain's most powerful figures sat in silence, their gazes fixed on the strange artifacts before them—runic gifts from a visitor who had arrived in a flying ship.
At the head of the table sat Prince George, heir to the throne, his youthful face serious as he tapped his fingers on the table. Beside him was his mother, Princess Augusta, her sharp eyes watching the men around her. Across from them, John Stuart, the Earl of Bute, a man of careful ambition, sat quietly observing.
To one side, William Pitt the Elder, Britain's de facto leader, examined a runic artifact, his keen mind racing through possibilities. Near him, the Duke of Cumberland, King George II's younger son and the country's top military commander, looked on with distrust.
