Elara's POV
The council chamber was arranged differently than it had ever been arranged before.
The long table was the same. The chairs were the same. The carved walls, the high windows, the portraits of previous kings staring down from their frames. All of it was the same. But the faces were not.
Lord Harwick sat at one end. His face was still. His hands were folded.
Corvus sat near the wall, not at the table. He had chosen to stand.
The remaining old council seats were empty. There was no one left to fill them.
The new seats were the ones that mattered.
I had invited them myself. Members of The Rendered. People who had fought against the crown and lost.
They walked in slowly.
Marcus came first. His face was hard. His jaw was tight.
He stopped in front of me.
"Your majesty You got married," he said. His voice was flat. "Without telling us."
"I did."
"To Kaelen."
"Yes."
He looked at Kaelen. Kaelen looked back at him.
