[ He answered with a solemn hum of acknowledgement, mildly condemning himself, and he might have left that alone, too — but it felt like a very soft, very gentle attack, subtle and coaxing, not to be defeated by strong walls or sturdy shields.

Aymeric reached down into the brush, plucked a blossom, and examined it with idle curiosity before tucking it away. ]

There are things that make me happy apart from that, of course. Selfish wants, if you like. I have more duties to the city than ever before, but also far more power to allow convergences, when it is practical and will not betray the public trust.

What practical convergence is there for something of that nature? Love without heirs, without the alliance of a marriage between houses.

[ It wasn't rhetorical. In the short silence that followed it, something echoed off in the forest, difficult to place, though he knew it was ahead — some distorted sound, a low rumble that his basest animal senses interpreted as something wrong. He ignored it. ]

I suppose, done with care, it might be a bold assertion. An example. We need no longer produce warriors to fight an unending war, and the right house or the right name have no place in an enlightened nation.