Page 84 of Savage Devotion
"Enough! Draw steel against her again and I'll kill you where you stand."
"Touching." He recovers his stance, but wariness replaces the wild rage in his eyes. "The savage protects his prize."
"The savage protects someone who matters to him."
"Someone who matters." His expression shifts from rage to something colder and more calculating. "Tell me, orc, how much does she matter? Enough to watch House Vaelmark burn? Enough to see human forces shattered while you pursue your romantic fantasies?"
He's changing tactics.Instead of direct confrontation, he's trying psychological warfare, looking for leverage that might separate us where violence failed.
"House Vaelmark grows stronger through alliance, not weaker."
"House Vaelmark dies the moment word spreads that our commanders take orders from orcs. No human force will follow leaders who've compromised with the enemy."
"Then maybe the definition of enemy needs updating."
"Maybe the definition of treason needs enforcement."
The threat carries weight beyond personal violence. He's talking about formal charges, military tribunals, public executions. The machinery of official justice turned against anyone who questioned traditional authority.
"Treason against what? Against policies that have failed for generations? Against leadership that values ideology over results?"
"Treason against humanity itself."
"Humanity benefits from peace. From trade. From shared knowledge and mutual prosperity."
"Humanity benefits from victory. From dominance. From ensuring that human interests always take precedence over alien concerns."
Alien.Another word designed to create distance, to make cooperation seem unnatural rather than practical. If orcs are alien, then working with us becomes a betrayal of human nature rather than an expansion of human potential.
"What you're describing isn't human interests," I say quietly. "It's human supremacy. There's a difference."
"The difference between survival and extinction."
"The difference between growth and stagnation."
"Pretty philosophy from someone whose people have spent centuries trying to exterminate mine."
"Ugly reality from someone whose people have spent centuries trying to exterminate everyone else's."
The accusation hangs in the air like smoke from burning bridges. Around us, guards shift nervously, hands still onweapons but uncertainty growing in their faces. This isn't the simple moral clarity they expected when they drew steel.
"You want to know what your alliance costs?" Heldrik's voice drops to a deadly whisper. "House Threnwick has already withdrawn support. House Aldrich questions our reliability. House Blackwater considers us compromised. Your romantic delusions are destroying everything our family built."
Political consequences.The one argument that might actually affect Ressa, since it goes beyond personal cost to encompass everyone under her command.
"Houses that refuse adaptation deserve whatever fate that brings," she says, but I hear uncertainty creeping into her voice.
"Houses that maintain their principles deserve respect and support."
"Houses that cling to failed strategies deserve replacement."
"By whom? By orc chieftains? By savage warlords who understand nothing about civilization or honor or the delicate balance that keeps human society functional?"
"By leaders who value results over rhetoric."
"Results." Heldrik's smile carries no warmth. "Your results have made House Vaelmark a laughingstock among the nobility. Your methods have cost us allies we needed and gained us enemies we can't afford. Your choices have doomed everyone who depends on our protection."
The words reach their target. Ressa's shoulders tighten, and I see doubt flickering behind her eyes. Not about me or us, but about the broader consequences of our choices.
