Waiting for proof that the old lines dividing us could finally be crossed.
That was the part the council had struggled to understand when we announced the wedding.
They thought it was about diplomacy.
About alliances.
About calming unrest along the borders.
But standing here now, watching Nevara walk toward me through a crowd that had never existed before today, I realized something simpler.
This wasn’t politics.
It was permission.
Permission for an entire kingdom to imagine a future that looked different than the past.
I hadn’t realized I’d stopped breathing until Kael’s voice murmured quietly near my shoulder.
“You should probably inhale at some point.”
I exhaled slowly.
“She looks—”
I stopped.
There wasn’t a word that felt large enough.
“Dangerous?” Sabrina suggested.
“R
