It confirmed what Elliana had suspected. Men occupied an astonishingly diminished position in this family’s power structure. They weren’t even allowed to cross the threshold into the council hall, much less voice opinions on family governance. Cole, her own companion, had been barred at the entrance without ceremony.
As Elliana’s gaze traveled across the sea of female faces, a question planted itself in her mind and refused to be dismissed. What would happen if she dismantled these ancient matriarchal structures entirely and established equality? Would the clan fracture into chaos?
She had felt no urge to interfere with family traditions before assuming this position, but now, imagining her own daughter one day standing in this very spot, she experienced a fierce determination to enact fundamental reform. Without substantial change to the Griffiths family, her daughter would never know what it meant to build a true partnership with a husband, to stand beside someone as an equal. Any son her daughter might bear would face systematic prejudice within this family, diminished simply by virtue of his sex. She refused to let that future unfold.
But the Griffiths family’s traditions reached back nearly a millennium, their roots driven deep into centuries-hardened ground. Tearing them out would be neither…
Simple nor safe, regardless of how much authority she wielded as head. She couldn’t afford haste or heavy-handedness. This required patience and strategic thinking—the methodical approach of gradually warming water until change became irreversible. She would introduce reforms incrementally, alterations small enough to seem harmless individually, allowing the clan to adapt without grasping the full scope of transformation until it had already reshaped their world.
Fortunately, her daughter remained young, years away from inheriting any real responsibility. Elliana felt confident she possessed sufficient time to rebuild the Griffiths family’s foundation completely before her daughter reached maturity and took her place at this table.
Of course, no one gathered in that hall could have possibly guessed the revolutionary vision crystallizing behind Elliana’s composed, perfectly controlled expression.
The elders had already demonstrated profound respect for Elliana’s authority, and the younger generations understood better than to challenge a new leader on her first day. They answered in perfect unison, their voices blending into a single declaration, “We will follow your arrangements.”
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Elliana found herself caught off guard. She’d anticipated resistance, perhaps even veiled hostility, yet instead found herself met with seamless cooperation.
With Maxine’s affairs resolved, Elliana turned to her next concern—the fate of Sophie and Aubrie. Her voice was steady as she addressed the assembly, “While Sophie and Aubrie did violate clan rules, they’ve endured their punishment for many years. The time has come for mercy. I want them welcomed back into the family, their past transgressions forgiven. Does anyone ?”
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