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He closes the door and leans against it for one breath.

“Sit,” I say.

“You have acquired substantial authority, and you use it immediately to order me into a chair.”

“The council recognized my judgment.”

“A dangerous precedent.”

He sits before his legs expose the cost of standing through judgment.

I pour water into two cups and take the chair opposite him.

“You maintained your composure before Theron,” he says. “Most Khuzuth lords cannot accomplish that after a century of practice.”

“I wanted to strike him with his staff.”

“Resisting the impulse improved the argument.”

“I am relieved you approve.”

“I approve of both the argument and the impulse.”

Despite exhaustion, I laugh.

The sound fades when I look toward the royal recognition on his desk.

“Theron will use this against you,” I say. “So will every conservative elder who bowed because the royal representative was watching. They will call your judgment weakness. They will say I command only because you nearly died beneath my hands.”

“They would oppose any change that limits their certainty.”

“That does not make their opposition harmless.”

“No.” Rhysandir turns the house ring around his finger. “It makes it predictable.”

“Predictable enemies still injure people.”

“House Morwen’thir holds the strategic pass, its soldiers, its charter, and the council judgment that removed Varrus. The monarchy has recognized your investiture. Theron may object, but he cannot erase those foundations.”

“He can divide the Ridge.”

“Then we give the Ridge reasons to value what we build.”

“And if value is not enough?”

“Then we remind them that Morwen’thir endured before their approval and will endure after it. I will not revoke a sound judgment to purchase the affection of elders who offered none when Lowtown froze beneath my walls.”

The admission carries no excuse. Months ago, he would have spoken of the settlement as a strategic point in the pass. Now he names the people his indifference harmed.

His gaze holds mine.

“Our bond survived coercion, my curse, poison, and the loss of every control I trusted. It can withstand offended elders.”

The confidence in his voice steadies me. It cannot resolve every danger, but it gives me ground upon which to face them.

I turn my cup between both hands.

“Nessa testified.”