The Blackmare king did not look away. "We are not your enemy," he said. "Nor are we theirs."
"That is where you are mistaken," the Empress replied without hesitation. "You are both. To each side."
A faint stir moved through the room.
King Highmoor watched the exchange closely, allowing the Empress to press the point, though his expression remained controlled.
"You assume that by refusing to choose, you avoid consequence," the Empress continued. "But in truth, you only delay it. The winning side will come to you eventually. And when they do, they will ask why you did nothing while the world reshaped itself around you."
"And we will answer," the Blackmare king said firmly, "that we protected our people instead of sacrificing them in a war that was not ours."
