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simpler version of Victoria’s. Both were smiling at the happy couple. Jacinda found herself smiling. She had a visual very similar to this at home. It had been taken on her and Stephan’s Union Day. It sat on her dresser, along with visuals of her children and grandchildren so she could see them every day and remember how very blessed she had been in her life. She hoped these young people were as equally blessed.
    “It’s a beautiful visual,” she finally said, setting the visual down.
    “It is. It’s why I asked you here today,” Jotham stated.
    “I don’t understand.” Jacinda ignored his attempt to again act as if she hadn’t been summoned.
    “I believe my son has become interested in your niece, Amina.”
    “Great-niece,” Jacinda corrected absently, her eyes returning to the visual, “and why would you say that?”
    “Because I know my son and saw how he acted around her.”
    “He said something?” Picking the visual back up, she looked at it with a more critical eye giving particular attention to the expressions and body language of Amina and Barek. Nothing she saw there gave her the impression that they were looking anywhere other than at the happy couple.”
    “No.”
    “Then what makes you think he’s interested?” Jacinda looked at Jotham.
    “As I said. I know my son.”
    “So why are you telling me this?” Jacinda had a sneaking suspicion why but hoped she was wrong.
    “I need to know more about this young woman before it goes any further.” Jotham pointed to Amina in the visual. “While she is from the House of Protection, she does not reside here. Cassandra considers Amina a member of her family and would not be… pleased… to know that I was inquiring about her.”
    “I completely understand why,” Jacinda told him feeling her anger begin to grow. “It’s wrong.”
    “It is something that must be done if Barek is really interested in her and that is why I contacted you.”
    “Me?!!”
    “Yes, Amina is a member of your family. You either have or can obtain the information I need to decide if this woman is worthy of my son.”
    Jacinda stared at him in shocked silence for several moments unable to believe what Jotham was asking of her. What gave him the right? Surging to her feet, she glared down at him.
    “How dare you!”
    “I dare because this woman might one day be the Queen of this House.” He slowly began to rise. “I dare because I am the King and it is my duty to see that she is fit for the position! I dare because Barek is my son !”
    “None of that gives you the right to decide the worth of someone! To decide if Amina and Barek are good for each other! That’s for them to decide.”
    “The heir to the throne…”
    “Must choose his Queen from his own House! Yes, I know! An archaic law that should have been dissolved cycles ago. I thought better of you, King Jotham.” Jacinda let him hear the full disdain in her voice. “Especially since the High Admiral is not only a relative but a friend. He is from the House of Protection, but he is also the King of the House of Knowledge.”
    “That is only because Cassandra was already the Queen before their Union took place.”
    “So you are saying that if Barek were to fall in love with someone not from this House that he would have to wait until you died before he could make her is wife?”
    “Don’t be ridiculous. Barek would never put off his duty that way.”
    “Duty!” Jacinda spun away from him unable to believe what was coming out of Jotham’s mouth. How could these words be coming from a man she and Stephan had so much respect for? A man they had supported and been honored to serve for so many cycles. She froze when her angry gaze suddenly found Lata’s portrait, the one she’d wondered about for all these cycles, tucked away on a wall in the corner. Lata seemed to be staring at her, her eyes demanding something from her. But what?
    “Was Lata just a duty, Majesty?” Jacinda spun back to him, her