While more and more aristo marriage contracts in Terreille were being made for social or political reasons, most Blood males still cherished the idea of marriage because it was the one relationship where the genders met on common ground as partners. Or as close to being partners as was possible—or reasonable. It also meant that male fidelity was a marriage requirement, and any man who looked beyond his wife’s bed could swiftly find himself without home or family, could even lose his children.

“There’s another reason to curb Vania,” Philip said. “If the males here get any more riled…”

“I know,” Alexandra replied sharply. They would never get Wilhelmina and Jaenelle away from the Hall if the males became more hostile than they already were. “I know,” she said again, softening her voice. “I’ll talk to her.”

“Soon?”

She disliked herself for thinking less of him because of the anxiety in his voice.

“Yes, Philip,” she said gently, “I’ll talk to her soon.”

2 / Kaeleer

An interesting gathering, Daemon thought as he slipped his hands into his trouser pockets and wondered what it meant when the Steward of the Court summoned the Master of the Guard, the Consort, and the First Escort to his study in order to “discuss something.”

He’d spent the past couple of days studying the book of Protocol Saetan had given him and had been surprised by the differences between these rules and the ones he had been taught in Terreille. This Protocol, while reinforcing the matriarchal nature of the Blood, gave males some rights and privileges that helped balance the power. Which explained the refreshing lack of fear and subservience in these males. They understood the boundaries that defined acceptable male behavior, and within those boundaries, they stood on solid ground, never having to wonder what would happen to them if they were no longer in a particular Lady’s favor.

He’d also been surprised by the section of Protocol that involved First Circle males since he’d never even seen the vaguest mention of it in Terreille.

There was a phrase that summed up a male’s surrender into formal service: Your will is my life. It gave the Queen the right to do anything she pleased with a male, including kill him. That wasn’t new, and, in Terreille, it was a serious risk. What was different was the tacit agreement on the Queen’s part that, by accepting the male, she was also accepting his right to have a say in her decisions and her life. If a Queen gave an order and the majority of males in her First Circle opposed it, she could yield to their decision or dismiss them from her court. But she couldn’t hurt them for opposing her.