Grace allowed the silence that followed Odin's last words to stretch for a moment longer than was comfortable. Long enough for the million people watching from their screens to sit inside it and feel its weight.
Then she moved forward.
"Let us assume," she said, "that everything you have described is true. That involvement escalates the war beyond recovery. That neutrality limits the scale of destruction. That building strength now creates something meaningful for later."
"Let us grant you all of that." She paused. "Then answer this."
Her eyes settled on Odin with the particular steadiness of someone who had been waiting to ask this specific question since before the broadcast began.
