LITMIR.BIZ

      ‘To recap: you’re telling me,’ Azrael breathed tautly, ‘that even today in Djalia a man can marry a woman simply by declaring that she is his wife?’

      ‘In front of witnesses. The marriage contract is verbal and complete as long as there are witnesses—’

      ‘But what about the bride’s consent?’ Azrael demanded. ‘In such a situation the woman has not given her consent.’

      ‘In law she does not have to give consent for the union to be binding and legal,’ the professor assured him. ‘You must appreciate that such arrangements were common hundreds of years ago, when women were viewed as property. By ancient law you are now a married man and the young lady is your legal wife. May I wish you both every happiness, Your Majesty…’

      Azrael’s usual cool was fracturing fast. He was married—legally married—and there was nothing he could do about it. Because even if he was desperate enough to admit that he had lied in the first place the public declaration of marriage he had made would still stand.

      He breathed in deep and slow, striving for calm. ‘That was…enlightening,’ he conceded quietly, for want of any better word. ‘I must discuss the situation with…with my wife.’

      His wife. It changed everything. His wife.