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“Fine,” Hande said, “but the real power lies in relationships.”

Everyone paused, and Franco studied her, trying to anticipate where she was going with this.

“That’s the true core of our societies,” Nikolett said slowly.“The secret trinity marriages provide support and stability because they form meaningful relationships between three people who might otherwise never even know one another, but who could benefit from the support.”

Hande blinked in surprise at Nikolett, then said, “Yes.That.”

“Okay, that’s fair,” Eric said.

Colum adjusted his glasses, then looked around, staring everyone down.Franco almost cheered for his friend.“Dublin, and the archive, remain neutral,” Colum said firmly.

Hande looked exasperated.“Fine, but the archivist must marry.And…and I think they should be married to someone in a position of leadership.To mirror what the Trinity Masters has.”Hande gestured to Franco, then Juliette.“An archivist with an emotional tie to the leadership of the society.”

“No,” Colum said, a little frantically.

Franco leaned over.“Shut up, you’re making it worse.”

Colum looked at him with wide eyes.

“You’ll be fine.”

“No, I won’t.”

“Yes, you will.”

“I hate people.”

“You don’t hate people.You’re just an introvert and don’t want to waste energy figuring out social interactions.”

Colum paused.“That’s fair enough.”

“Colum.”Eric’s voice yanked their attention back to the group at large.

“What?”

“If you want the Trinity Archive, the rules for the archivist will have to change.Meaning, you have to agree.”

“It’s a loss of autonomy for the position,” Nikolett warned.

Colum sighed.“What do you want the archivist to do?”

“Marry,” Hande said.“The archivist must be married to a leader within the Masters’ Admiralty, in a trinity appointed by the fleet admiral, or chosen during a meeting of all territory admirals.”

“He should pick his own trinity,” Nikolett countered.“The way admirals do.”

Hande shook her head.“No, access is too important.The fleet admiral decides.”

“One of the privileges of being an admiral is, unless the fleet admiral chooses for us, we select our own trinities,” Nikolett shot back.“The archivist should have the same option.After all, the fleet admiral will still have final approval, since it’s a Masters’ Admiralty marriage.”

“That’s fair, Hande,” Eric said.

Hande was quiet for a moment, and everyone tensed.“It needs to be chosen by the fleet admiral.The fleet admiral chooses the archivist, and at the time of a new archivist’s appointment, the fleet admiral also chooses their trinity.”

“That’s fair too,” Eric said, almost reluctantly, his attention on Franco and Colum.

“But that means any admiral who is unmarried at the time of a new archivist appointment could lose their right to choose their own spouses,” Sophia pointed out.

“We have the choice only if the fleet admiral doesn’t choose for us,” Hande countered.