Page 166 of The Silent War
With the Accord bound to us, he would approve the marriage. With no hesitation.
Emilia Crow.
The words ran through me. Forcing me to close my eyes for a moment.
Our wife.
Finally.
I looked down at her.
It was the lock clicking shut. The last piece. The one chain that tied her to us in law as much as blood.
I slid my hand higher on her thigh, just enough to feel the steady warmth of her skin under my palm. Bastion’s eyes flicked open across her, meeting mine. His gaze was heavy, raw from hours of silence, but we didn’t need words.
We both knew.
She was ours in every way that mattered now.
The dynasties could circle. Alexander could rage. The Adams could call her liability. None of it mattered. Because dynasty law didn’t care about sentiment. It cared about contracts, names, signatures, oaths.
And those were ours to claim.
I thought of the advisors pressing contracts on her. The houses demanding renegotiations. The vultures circling her silence. Rage burned low in my chest. They’d pressed her until she broke. They’d given her migraines, stolen her sleep, convinced her she was disposable.
They’d made her cry alone.
Never again.
Every paper they pushed from now on would go through me. Every demand would choke in their throats before it touched her. Every dynasty that thought they could claw the Accord back would bleed for trying.
Because it wasn’t Adams anymore.
It was Crows.
And that changed everything.
I traced the edge of her thigh, slow, reverent, keeping her anchored in her sleep. Bastion leaned down and kissed the top of her head again.
I breathed out steady.
She was finally ours. Not just in body, but in dynasty law. In the one language men like Damius spoke.
Emilia didn’t realize it yet. But she would.
And when she did, she’d see there was no escape.
Not from the Accord. Not from us.
Our empire.
Ourwife.
Our legacy.
Chapter Fifty-One
BASTION
