....
"Yes," Magnus answered. "And if you had chosen otherwise, Eirik would own the next five years of your southern policy and the dead might still be dead. Ruling is not the clean version of love. You already knew that. Today you only had to pay it in front of him."
Elara walked the southern dens' fire late and found Liv Andersen still awake. The other woman said nothing about the votes.
She only asked whether Elara intended to keep the healing territory clear of the border blood that was now staining the Moot's edges.
Elara answered 'yes' but the answer felt thinner than it had the day before.
When Elara returned to her tent Felix took one look at her face and pulled her in without questions. She let herself be held. The political lines she had drawn were still intact. The cost of everyone drawing lines at the same time was no longer abstract.
---
