"She doesn't understand why I don't use Selwyn," of Petrana. His voice is warm, fond, if still quiet. Marcus's hand in his is welcome grounding, under the circumstances. "I mean, she understands that I feel strongly about it, so she lets it stand, but I know she saw the bannorn when we were there with the Inquisition and did the arithmetic of my being the eldest living son. She saw opportunity there, and I see why but..."

He lets that thread drop, and instead takes up a parallel thought. "When I used to want people to call me 'Enchanter,' more than I do now, it wasn't really about being a Loyalist or not. It was that it felt like something I'd earned. A garment that fit. I suspect some people's surnames feel that way."