“They will have no choice but to accept her,” I say, my tone burning with conviction. “I will not be swayed in this.”
“Of course, My Lord. But she is still silver.” Ivor hesitates, a brief flicker of unease passing over his weathered features before he averts his eyes, as if weighing how to proceed. When he continues, it is with obvious reluctance. “There are whispers, questions of whether she has used her magic to influence you.”
Does everyone think I’m that weak, that pliable?
I fix Ivor with a hard stare. “Our marriage is no magical manipulation. I chose her of my own free will.”
If anyone influenced me, it was my mother. After all, she was the one behind linking Annora and Lyra’s souls together, but I cannot tell these men that. They wouldn’t understand. I don’t even understand why she did what she did.
Ivor continues after a moment. “Tension is already high in Sharhavva, and now, you have married a woman from House of Silver. You must exercise caution in introducing her to our people.”
I dig my fingers into the wooden arms of my chair, wrestling my anger into submission. He voices a reasonable concern. “I will take your counsel under advisement.”
The man nods as I unclench my jaw and regard the rest of the council. “Now then, let us return to the business at hand.”
Diplomatic Elar clears his throat, then speaks. “While you were away for two weeks, tensions within the city escalated. There were disturbances.” He pauses, and I detect the faintest hint of judgement in his eyes. “With you gone, the people grew restless. There was violence between factions, looting and destruction of property.”
I sit back, jaw clenched, as he continues.
“Many questioned your priorities, wondered if you had forsaken the people’s needs.”
Though Elar’s words are delivered diplomatically, I bristle at the implication. He thinks I abandoned my duties, that my pursuit of Annora was some frivolous endeavor. Still, I cannot deny the discontent my absence caused.
I meet each advisor’s gaze as I speak. “We must quell this dissent immediately before it boils over. Increase patrols. Open the storehouses to feed the people. And bring me the instigators of this chaos.”
“Yes, My Lord,” Ivor says. “It will be done.”
I lean forward, my hands flat against the cold surface of the table. “We’re adjourned. See to it that my orders are carried out.”
One by one, members of the Scions of Ember rise, their chairs scraping against the stone floor. I remain seated, staring at the map of Sharhavva resting on top of the table.
The unrest in the city troubles me deeply. I cannot relax, knowing that dissent festers in the streets. As chieftain, it is my duty to maintain order and stability.
My need for my people to accept Annora also weighs heavily upon me. I must present her strength without showcasing her as a threat. Her gentle nature without painting her as weak. And I must do it all while quelling any rumors about her supposed influence over me.
When I decided to marry Annora, I knew none of this would be easy. Yet, I would do it all over again. Going to Bakva. Marrying her. Bringing her here.
She was always meant to be mine.
Someday, my people will see that truth as plain as I see it, and they will accept her.
* * *
Even after mymeeting with the Scions of Ember, I cannot forget how Aleksander accused me of thinking about other women while I’m with Annora. Nothing could be further from the truth. Annora is the only woman occupying my thoughts and desires.
Everything changed the moment I discovered she wasn’t Lyra. She may have been in Lyra’s body, but that wasn’t who she was inside. She was someone different. Someone better. Someone not tainted by vanity and greed like Lyra.
Slowly, but surely, Annora chipped through the walls around my heart, made me care for her. Made me think about her constantly. Made me want only her.
Annora’s scars don’t matter to me. I barely even notice them. They are just a part of her, just like the scars marring my own skin.
Aleksander had no right to judge her so harshly by them. He knows nothing of what she has endured. Nothing of who she is inside.
The halls of the palace seem endless as I search for Annora. I need to see her, to be near her, after my confrontation with Aleksander.
I round a corner and catch a glimpse of silk whispering along the corridor ahead.
Annora.
