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“It’s way too much,” I argued. The finger bracelet flashed in the light from strategically placed fire jars, and it only made the cost of everything settle more heavily in my stomach. “I don’t need anything so… fancy.”

I didn’t want to get used to it. And what if I ruined it?

Shelby circled my wrist. “It really isn’t. The Crown Princess had an entire trousseau fashioned within weeks of her wedding, and no expense was spared. A few dresses made to your taste are more than reasonable.”

The man’s expression softened. “The Grand Rite is a treasured tradition, but those first few weeks trying to acclimate can be very jarring.” He gave a small smile and gestured to the scar I’d noticed before. Was he an omega, too, then? Had he participated in one of the Rites? “I understand your resistance, but it would be my honor to craft a wardrobe to your liking, my lady.”

The clear pride in his work was difficult to resist. With a heavy swallow, I nodded. “All right.” I looked around the room. “I have no idea how to do any of this, though. How to… pick everything.”

The man sprung into quiet action, and an hour later, the three of us were walking toward one of the marketplaces that had a wide space for lounging, the dress for the equinox sent back to Vincent’s home and several more measured and pinned with the promise of them being ready in another week.

“Crown Princess?”

Neither woman balked at the half-formed question.

Shelby looped her arm with mine and offered a half-hearted smile. “Her name is Tatiana. She is the daughter of a powerful lord in the Sepra court. She and Tyrus have been married for nearly a decade and have a son named Ezra.”

I eased the notebook from the bag and scribbled the names on a new page.

“I didn’t realize Callum had a brother.”

Amaria pursed her lips. “Most of the kingdom would prefer he didn’t have one.”

“Amaria,” Shelby hissed, leaning around me to look at the other woman who only shrugged.

“It’s the truth, and you know it,” she said. “Very few in the court care for him and are already preparing for the day he takes the crown. You’ve heard the way our parents speak of it all, the concern it will create a civil war.”

I frowned. A civil war?

Shelby sighed. “Even still. You don’t know who might hear you while we are walking.”

“Isn’t…” I cleared my throat. “You’ve all said multiple times that there’s peace. That’s the whole purpose of this, right?” I held out my hand with the red Mark. “A looming civil war doesn’t really sound like it fits in with that.”

Shelby’s sigh this time was more resigned. “It’s… complicated,” she said after a minute. “The Goddess intervening in the Great War and the creation of the Rite has kept the continents at peace. Broadly, at least. The costs of the war—the lives lost and the damage wreaked on the world—were catastrophic. It’s in no one’s best interest to have something of that scale happen again. That doesn’t mean there isn’t tension between some of the nations. You’ve heard the way Hayes speaks of Varím. It’s a commonly held opinion here. There is little the two kingdoms view in the same light.”

“And while the Rite has helped keep our kingdoms integrated when some might choose to isolate for whatever reason,” Amaria continued, “it hasn’t been a perfect solution. Nothing ever is when free choice is involved. You never know how the others might respond, the decisions they will make. Tyrus is…”

She pursed her lips, searching for the exact phrasing she wanted to use.

Shelby cut in. “He is much more sympathetic to the southern continent than the rest of Marish, especially the Nesumían and the Odrain. There is concern for when he is crowned king that our relationships with Senona and Tousir will be impacted.”

“And,” Amaria added dryly, “Tyrus is known to be a loose cannon. He is rash and impulsive with little regard for how his choices will ripple through the kingdom. Callum is known within the court to be a much more level-headed personality. Many believe he will be a more stalwart leader than his brother ever could be, even if he had the inclination to learn prudence.”

My mind swam as I tried to reorient myself. I suppose it had been naive of me to assume there were no conflicts at all. Even on Earth, there was tension within the political landscape if the governments oversaw more than a city state. Sometimes even then, if the viewpoints were too opposed.

“The others, when we were traveling, they mentioned they were curious what the gods have in store since Sloane and I were separated.”

Both women looked at me as we turned onto another street that immediately widened into a large, open square. Vendors with small, portable carts were stationed every twenty feet or so, their wares on display. Kids, bundled against the slight chill, ran and played with colorful kites while their parents watched from picnic blankets laid out on the short lawn still mostly dormant. All around the square were those ribbons and decorations that had become move prevalent over the last few days. Like Vincent’s home and the basilica, there was a fountain in the center of the square. This one had a life-size statue of a man and woman in the center. She was held in his embrace, their faces close enough to kiss. Both were in Grecian-style robes that felt like they truly moved despite being carved from stone. Amaria led us to a patch of open grass near the fountain and pulled a blanket from the small bag she’d been carrying. Without a word, she arranged herself on the fabric and then gestured for me to join her.

“They did,” Shelby said as she joined us on the blanket, her own small bag left on one of the corners. “The double entrants have been associated with great change within the kingdom they joined.”

“Is this…” I caught myself and rephrased the question to give myself more autonomy. “Maybe this tension is what we could impact? Is Tyrus the type of person to practice some modicum of restraint if someone he has ties to may be impacted?”

Amaria pursed her lips. “Not that I’ve ever seen, though Shelby and I are both young for the court. But Tatiana is, and she has been able to influence his choices more than many presumed when they first wed.”

Shelby leaned back on her hands and crossed her ankles, tilting her head toward the sun. The view was so similar to Sloane on that beach in Maine, it stole my breath.

“With Persynthia’s blessing,” she mused, “it’s not something we will need to worry about for several decades at least, and the kingdom could be very different then.”