Second wife, Second chance
she said, voice carrying with practiced grace, “then perhaps he also told you something else. Something you’re conveniently leaving out.”
Elowen felt her stomach drop.
Serephine’s eyes slid to Rowan, then back to Elowen. “Perhaps he told you that this is what the realm requires,” she said softly. “Perhaps he told you that legitimacy is a duty. Not a betrayal.”
Duty. The word that always made betrayal sound like fate.
Elowen’s throat tightened. Her charm burned faintly against her skin, insisting on truth.
She couldn’t protect herself from Rowan’s wrath if she couldn’t protect herself from the story he’d built.