The announcement went out at the ninth bell.
One page. Clean language. Vaelor had written it himself and Maren had read it twice and neither of them had changed anything because there was nothing to change. It said what it needed to say without decoration. The king of the realm intended to marry. Her name. Her lineage. The twins acknowledged. The date of the formal ceremony to follow.
That was all.
By the tenth bell the reactions had started coming in.
---
The first wave was what they expected. The allied territories sent congratulations through the formal channels, warm and correct, the language of people who understood that the political landscape had shifted and were positioning themselves accordingly. Three of the Council reform members sent personal notes. Aldric sent a single line that said *about time* and nothing else.
Maren brought the second wave at midday.
She set the stack on the table in front of Aelara and Vaelor without comment and stood back and let them read.
