"Above them?" Heena interrupted, tilting her head. "I was unaware that my consorts held any formal ranking among themselves. Please, enlighten me—which one of the current five is the 'primary' consort?"
The nobles exchanged glances.
Because there 'wasn't' one. The original Celeste had married all five at roughly the same time and had never designated a hierarchy among them.
"Exactly," Heena said when no one answered. "Since there is no existing primary consort, I am free to designate one as I see fit. And I choose Prince Larus."
"But Your Majesty—" someone started.
"Is there a 'law'," Heena asked, voice taking on a sharper edge, "that prevents me from doing this? A specific statute? A constitutional restriction?"
Her secretary, still standing beside her like a dead-eyed sentinel, helpfully opened the file and began flipping through pages.
