This is great! It seems that you haven't missed a beat. If anything, your time away has really sharpened your skill, brother. The premise has a real Pax Romana-feel to it, but looking at your tags, I'm guessing we're in for a supernatural treat. Seeing as you've written more sci-fi in the past, I'm excited to see how this turns out.

You set up the Triumvirate very well. The characterization is fantastic, and the descriptions.. oh, man. You put on a clinic there! Any reader could definitely see the effort you put into it, and I'm just happy that you decided to put this up for everyone on Steemit to see. Imagine earning $12 (as of commenting) just for a single chapter!

Great work, my friend. Definitely stoked for A Darkness Below :D