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“The valley below us belongs to the Keep in all three Realiven Ebon Rih to rule on behalf of the Queen of Ebon Askavi You were given the responsibility to watch over the land and the people who live here, whether they were landens or Rihlanders or Eyriens When you e to defend and protect, you not onlyQueen you served; you made it to the Keep and those who serve the Keep Which is why you still rule here even though Jaenelle is no longer a ruling Queen” He pushed up froh his hair, the first sign of exasperation he’d shown “What is actually going on here, Lucivar? Do you trust Falonar so ht now he didn’t trust Falonar at all, but that wouldn’t be a wise thing to say to his father—or his brother, for that e?”

Lucivar huffed out a laugh “He’s arrogant, not stupid He couldn’t survivefield”

“But he is an aristo Warlord Prince who served in a less-than-honorable court Was he free to leave, or would he have been considered a rogue when he left Prythian’s court and slipped in with the other Eyriens to try his luck at the service fair?”

“He said he couldn’t stomach what he was ordered to do,” Lucivar said “I assuue, but I didn’t care”

“A man who lived by traditional Eyrien honor would have cared,” Saetan said “Or at least cared about why aat the truth of that, Lucivar resu

“So Falonar appeals to your sense of honor and tries to get you to give up your claiood of the other Eyriens’ What do you think would happen if you did step down?”

“Falonar would step in and become the next Warlord Prince of Ebon Rih and rule the valley in traditional Eyrien fashion” And blood would be shed up and down the valley The Rihlanders here, Blood and landen, wouldn’t tolerate the presence of another race who expected thelittle better than slaves

“If you step down, there will be no Warlord Prince of Ebon Rih,” Saetan said “If you leave Ebon Rih, no one at the Keep will deny Falonar’s clai in the valley, but the Rihlander villages here will have no duty to him There will be no tithes to support hiht to that income He may be considered an equal to the Queens who rule the Blood villages, but not their superior He would not be perlut this land with Eyriens who can’t support the in more warriors, because the number of warriors already here is sufficient to help the Rihlanders defend this land and its people”

“And if he did try to bring insoftly, “Don’t underesti Oh, yes, he heard the warning

“I will give Falonar two points,” Saetan said “First, you aren’t thinking like an Eyrien when it comes to the Eyriens in Ebon Rih Who would you ith you on a battleground, Prince Yaslana? Who would you want supporting those men? Whose skills are useful? Who should be disht? No one has reminded you of those completed contracts because they would have had to earn their living instead of expecting you to provide theive them a chance to live in the territory you rule They aren’t your children Since you have sense enough not to spoil your own son, don’t spoil theo, because the ones who can’t give you loyalty are no use to you in a fight—or in a healthy community”

“Could I release Falonar from his contract?” Lucivar asked

“If he wants to return to Terreille, you could forgive the rest of his contract If he wants to stay in Kaeleer but no longer can serve you honorably, his contract could be transferred to a Queen of sufficient rank— to have an Eyrien Warlord Prince in her court”