'To Gabriel von Jaunez,
You always said letters were where liars go to bury their guilt.
Maybe this is exactly that.
But still—if you're reading this, then everything I tried to prevent has already begun. And the truth is all I have left to give you.
I made a choice.
Not because I wanted to. Not because I was coerced. But because I looked at George—loyal and blind. I looked at Max—brilliant and vulnerable. And I looked at myself and saw a man who couldn't bear to watch the people he loved be crushed between the teeth of imperial ambition.
Then Hadeon came.
He didn't need threats. Just promises.