She looked at him with something like hunger, not physical, but intellectual.
"You represent change. Disruption. Something genuinely unpredictable is entering a system that's been stable to the point of stagnation. Win or lose, live or die, you're going to reshape things. And I wanted to see that up close, wanted to be part of it rather than just reading reports months after events concluded."
"So this is entertainment for you," Jaenor said flatly.
"This is life," Gwendolen corrected with surprising passion.
"Real stakes, real consequences, forces powerful enough to actually matter. Do you have any idea how rare that is? How most of what occupies my time is managing minor nobles' squabbles and resource allocation debates that ultimately change nothing significant?"
She stopped walking, turning to face him fully.
