The banquet ended with success.
And the next morning, the capital woke to gossip.
It spread like wildfire through the city. From noble salons to market stalls, from military barracks to temple cloisters. Servants whispered it to merchants, who sold it to customers, who carried it home to their families.
By midday, there was not a soul in the upper circles of Iondora who had not heard some version of the previous night's events.
The Black Wolf King had a Luna.
That much was certain. Arkai Dawnoro, who had refused every match for years, who had been approached by every eligible house and turned them all away, had finally chosen a woman.
And not just any woman, but a mysterious, veiled stranger who had appeared from nowhere and captured him completely.
The guests who had attended the banquet could not stop talking about it.
"In love," they said, shaking their heads with wonder. "Absolutely in love. You should have seen the way he looked at her."
