I’m supposed to sit next to him?
The thought hit her like a thunderclap. Even among those rare men who married for love and cherished their wives, such an arrangement was unthinkable—especially not when the wife was not of noble birth. A common woman, sitting beside a duke of royal lineage, on the dais? Her gaze flickered to Vlad, whose commanding gray eyes swept over his vassals.
“Make sure you remember this,” he said firmly.
“Yes, my lord,” came their unified response, echoing through the chamber.
