“Then let’s stop pretending this isn’t a fucking funeral and talk about something real,” she snaps.
Elyssara smiles, wolfish and wicked.
“I’m interested to see you sayanythingreal, Marin. It’s difficult to discern your performances from your personality,” she quips, every word a challenge.
Ronyn sucks in a deep breath.
Too many fucking women in this room.
But Marin doesn’t take the bait. Her face turns serious, solemn almost.
“I don’t know if he’s still in there,” she says, voice steady. “I don’t know if you can reach him.”
They all know who she means. The shift is immediate. Different tension now. Sharper. More personal.
All eyes turn to Elyssara.
She doesn’t hesitate.
“I can.”
No doubt. No pause. Just certainty.
Marin studies her. “And if you can’t?” The words are quieter, more dangerous. “I need to know you won’t hesitate.” She pauses for a single moment. Then, “I will not sacrifice my people for one man. I don’t care who he is.”
Her words land harder than anything before it.
Elyssara doesn’t look away.
“I won’t let it come to that.”
Marin’s jaw tightens. “That’s not what I asked.” The air sharpens. “I said: what happens if you can’t reach him?” she sounds out every syllable.
And the inference is clear:will you kill him?
Elyssara does not move, but every muscle in her body goes tense. Coiling tight like an animal about to attack. She schools her features into neutrality.
“If you’re asking me to kill my Starbound?—”
“I’m asking you to sacrifice yourselfandyour Starbound,” Marin cuts her off. “It’s two people or the realms, Elyssara.”
Silence detonates. It explodes across the room so completely that it becomes absolute.
“I will not kill him,” Elyssara snarls, every word penetrating the silence like a blade through flesh.
“I’ll do it.”
Teddy. The words don’t cut. They settle. Final.
All eyes drift to him, landing on him with shock.
“I’m the sword of Zerynthia,” he says, stepping forward, gaze fixed somewhere beyond all of them. “I swore an oath. It is my duty.”
A pause.
“If the choice is between him and the realms…”
His jaw flexes. And in that moment, everyone knows that Teddy is a man of his word. He will follow through, if for no other reason than because he said he would.
