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“They brought me the proposal,” she said. Kael snorted. “I figured.” “And?” He finally looked at her. “And what?” “Do you want it?” That caught him off guard. For all her control, for all her power—this, she never took from them. Choice. Kael studied her carefully. “You’re serious.” “I don’t trade my children,” Elira said quietly. “Not for power. Not for peace. Not for anything.” A beat. “But alliances matter,” she added. “And sometimes they look different than we expect.”