“I forget how young you are, Your Grace. You were only a boy kept safe in Eranahl the last time we went to war with Maridrina. You didn’t fight in those battles where they threw their entire navy against us, blockading Southwatch and stymying trade, all while our people starved. You weren’t there when Silas Veliant realized that he couldn’t win by force and took his vengeance on the outlying islands, his soldiers slaughtering families and stringing their bodies up for the birds to feast on.”

