"You can't be serious," Loman sputtered, coughing as he nearly choked on his tea. "You'd be telling thousands, tens of thousands of people to give up the only homes they've ever known. They'd never stand for it. You'd have common people with pitchforks and woodcutters' axes fighting your armies, and thousands would die on both sides," he said, horrified by the idea of the carnage her proposal would unleash.
"I agree, it would be horrible," Ashlynn said calmly. "But again, be honest," she prompted. "Would it be worse for my armies, or for the people of Lothian March? You've seen a portion of our strength, and the Second Army is one of our stronger forces, but it isn't the strongest by far," she said as her tone grew harder.
