Lucas exhaled once, long and steady, then spoke in a voice stripped of any pretense or embellishment.
"Then there's no alliance," he said at last. His tone was not angry, nor was it desperate. It was calm and even. "If what you say is true, Your Majesty, then forming one now would be like building a house on shifting sand. The first storm would tear it apart."
Beyond the curtain, he saw her silhouette tilt slightly, her head inclining as though in agreement. "Yes," the Empress said, her voice smooth and unyielding. "It is better this way. Your knowledge of space and teleportation..your 'power,' as you call it...is too valuable to risk. Sharing it now would be a mistake. No matter how noble your intentions, the knowledge could be stolen, corrupted, turned against you. The hands that reach for it may not be the ones you think."
Her words echoed softly through the chamber. There was no judgment in them, only a cool, measured certainty.
