While most of the lords and ladies in the room quietly accepted Ashlynn's declaration that men and women would have the right to choose their own marriage partners, and a few young women even seemed to be celebrating the fact, not everyone accepted her decree so easily.
"Your Grace," Telent Rundel said as the shock started to die down. "Forgive me, but I'm not certain that such a rule can be made in the Kingdom of Gaal," he said, adopting a tone that a tutor might use to correct a student who had given the wrong answer during a lesson.
"Ever since the Shield Breaker Rebellion, a lord has had the right to set the terms of his children's marriages," Baron Rundel said patiently, spreading his hands as if he were helpless before the kingdom's laws. "And a lord may also make arrangements for his vassals in order to preserve the peace and prosperity of the realm."
