Some battles aren't fought with claws, but with words and secrets.
The eruption lasted exactly five seconds.
Then Diana Silvermoon's voice cut through the chaos. "Order. We will have order."
The council chamber quieted. But the tension remained. Thick. Dangerous. Everyone processing what formal challenge meant.
Gideon recovered first. Always did. The predator who adapted fastest to changing battlefield.
"A challenge," he said. Voice carrying perfectly. "How. Unexpected. Though perhaps not surprising given recent patterns of behavior."
There it was. The first counter-strike. Framing my challenge as pattern of problematic behavior rather than legitimate procedural objection.
"Recent patterns," I said calmly, "of defending students, protecting allies, and refusing to accept political manipulation as legitimate governance?"
