"This…" the major felt a visible surge of unease towards the request. He shifted his weight, his hand tightening on his rifle as if he were ready to intervene physically.
But Karoline interfered before the tension could snap, showing a tinge of the brilliance that had surely been cultivated in the halls of power since she was a child.
"We can discuss anything after we clear this situation first," she said, her voice regaining a bit of that aristocratic steel.
Clear this situation? I hardly prevented myself from laughing out loud. C'mon, girl, who did you think I was? Did she take me for some green kid who was just lucky enough to have a few monsters on his side? Humph!
Her political instincts were sharp, I'll give her that. She wanted to neutralise the threat first, use my strength to secure her safety, and then negotiate from a position of relative stability.
