The Haunting Echo of a Name. The suffocating silence seemed to suck the oxygen right out of the room. Martha Thorne, still kneeling on the cold marble floor, looked back and forth between the polished tips of Lord Xander’s shoes and the laundry basket still clutched in Ethan’s arms. The word Sovereign still rang in her ears, as if it had just demolished the logic she had built over fifty years. "What? Did you just call him... Sovereign?" Martha stammered, her voice barely a ghostly whisper. She glared at Ethan. "Lord Xander, you must be mistaken! This man is my son-in-law! He’s just unemployed! He knows nothing but laundry detergent and rags!" Xander didn’t even deign to glance at Martha. His overwhelming aura of authority made the furniture in the room seem to vibrate. He bowed his head d
