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“But do you kill?”
He paused then, wondering exactly what she was trying to get at. What did it matter? She knew what this life required. Why would she question it if she was serious about stepping up as the ruling head?
“I have killed,” he said.
Did it matter to her if he had? He couldn’t imagine it would make him into something less in her eyes, but strangely enough, he regretted the simplicity of the statement. The circumstances where he’d been forced to take lives in the service of his family, in their best interest, hadn’t made the act any less detestable.
“I don’t delight in it,” he said. “I do what’s necessary.”
“To remain in control,” she filled in, eyebrow cocked again.
“Yes,” he agreed.
“What warrants death, then?”
“Anything that threatens my position.”
She nodded slowly, watching him.
“Like Gregor. Well, now, definitely, but before too. Him showing up here with no money. That warrants killing? Being unable to settle a debt?”
“Yes.”
“Because otherwise people start taking advantage?”
He held her gaze. Steady as an oak tree. He didn’t really need to answer, she could read it well enough on his face, but he said, “Yes.”
“And mercy?”
“Doesn’t belong on the battlefield.”
She huffed softly, but not out of derision. She took him seriously enough.
“Who decided?” she asked. “That this business had to be a battlefield.”
He smiled then, coming over to carefully lower himself onto the bed next to her. He stretched his hurt leg out, waiting for the spell to kick in. It would take a little while longer, but there was soothing cold already gathering around it.
“There’s really no point questioning it,” he said. “Have you ever killed someone?”
She rubbed her neck, squared her shoulders, sighed softly. Then shook her head.
“Are you sure you want to rule?” he asked.
He expected her to react with something akin to anger or annoyance that he would even ask, but she didn’t respond for such a long time he almost repeated the question.
“I know I’m a good businesswoman,” she said. “I’m cutthroat in negotiations. I could bring our revenue up five-fold if I was just given the chance.”
“But?”
“But you’re right,” she admitted. “I’ve never killed anyone and as long as that side to things isn’t…”
She trailed off and he glanced at the bed behind them before he said, “Bleeding in front of you?”
She glanced back as well, a weak smile on her mouth when she turned her gaze on his.
“Yeah,” she said. “I’m okay with it. I mean, I can see that it’s logically unavoidable. It’s… part and parcel. If Gregor had come to me as a ruling head with an overdue debt unable to pay, putting a strange woman in front of me thinking it due compensation, I would probably have someone shoot him in the back of the neck. But what about the single father? I’m not too sure about the single father who can’t settle his debt.”
“Hey,” he said, reaching out a hand and taking one of hers in a gentle hold. “You realize we don’t just indiscriminately execute people, right? The single father with debt over his head, we’ll give him options. There are many ways to repay us. We’re not monsters.”
