"…you may find a crack in the ice, a path you had not considered. But you will not find it here, in a beauty parlor, or on a sparring field. You will find it only by looking him in the eye and speaking your truth." Azalea added, she felt like she had been doing this w giving advice recently.
The advice was so simple, so fundamentally obvious, that Eltreth felt foolish for not considering it herself. She had been so consumed with defeating Khione that she had forgotten to win Nero. A direct approach. No threats, no displays of power. A conversation.
A new kind of fire ignited in her orange eyes, no longer one of restless frustration, but of focused determination. The day of pampering and distraction had served its purpose. It had cleared the static from her mind. The path forward was no less complex, but it was now sharply defined.
"Very well," Eltreth said, her voice regaining its customary steel. "A conversation it shall be."
°°°
