I wanted to say yes immediately. To be certain. To be the confident leader they needed. But I was tired and broken, still grieving.
"I don't know," I said honestly. "I want to say yes, I want to believe that freeing everyone from the Council's control is worth any price. But when I see the bodies. When I count the dead. When I visit the families..." I trailed off.
"Then why continue?" Ravenna pressed.
"Because stopping now makes their deaths meaningless. Because the Council and League are both still threats. Because if we quit, nothing changes and more people die anyway." I met her eyes. "And because I'm too stubborn to surrender."
Seraphina laughed softly. "That's the most honest thing you've said in days."
"It's true though." Marcus spoke up. "If we stop now, the League will keep killing. The Council will keep manipulating. At least if we fight, we're trying to change something."
"Even if we die trying?"
