Second wife, Second chance
“Because the bonding hall under my banner does not tolerate false legitimacy.”
The attendants began calling names, summoning guards, preparing whatever ritual punishment the court deemed fitting. Elowen watched the chaos with a kind of numb awe. Her internal war - accept the second wife role and let the mistress be first, or refuse and face erasure - had ended not with a private compromise, but with public law.
It didn’t erase what Rowan had done.
It did, however, remove the blade that had threatened to sever her future from her name.
Caelan turned slightly toward her, his gaze steady. “You are not Rowan’s second wife,” he said. “Not now. Not ever.”