THREE WEEKS AFTER VALERIA'S RESIGNATION - WAR COUNCIL
"We need a new military commander."
The council chamber felt EMPTY without Valeria. Her chair sat vacant. A reminder of the COST of my choice.
"Recommendations?" I asked.
"General Marcus Thorne," Kassandra suggested. "Twenty years experience. Respected. COMPETENT."
"Also a traditionalist who thinks democracy is WEAK," Lily countered. "He'll undermine our principles at every TURN."
"Then Commander Helena Vex. Young. INNOVATIVE. Believes in the cause—"
"And has THREE years experience. Against an enemy with CENTURIES of military tradition." Kassandra shook her head. "She's not READY."
We'd been having this argument for WEEKS. Every candidate had FLAWS. No one was Valeria. No one COULD be.
"We're running out of TIME," Marcus—the former merchant, now council member—said quietly. "Intelligence reports the Monarchist Alliance has moved up their TIMELINE. They're invading in FOUR months. Not six. Not a year. FOUR."
