“Well”—she sets the teacup down on the small table beside her—“in my experience, there is love. And there is duty. But there is never both.” My chest rises and falls quickly. “I know I can’t have her.” “Do you?” She tilts her head at me, black hair tumbling over a shoulder. “It seems as though you’ve convinced yourself otherwise.” I open my mouth, only to hear her speaking again. “There is love within duty, and duty within love. You can’t have one without the other, and yet”—she takes a deep breath, her gaze distant—“you can never truly have both. So choose, Kai Azer. The girl. Or power. And
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