Quinlan Elysiar had barely sheathed the Soul Reaper at the altar when the marks woke.
He felt it through the bond before he saw it: the Bloodfather marks warming on the skin of his family.
Around him, all of his women's eyes went unfocused at once, on windows only they could see.
[Ding!]
[You carry the Sovereign of Iskaris's mark!]
[Land's Strength: on Sovereign Soil, all attributes +20%.]
[Ding!]
The women who carried his mark on their wombs received a second notification.
[The Sovereign has named you Empress of Iskaris. Title granted: Empress of Iskaris.]
[The Sovereign's house is Elysiar.]
[Ayame Elysiar. Take the name? Accept / Decline.]
Ayame read it at his side with her hand still on his sleeve, and he watched her face do the thing it did before she cut something in half: absolute focus, then the decision.
"Accept," the Skysplitter said out loud, to the window and to him.
Down the line, nine more women were reading the same page.
