He stepped forward slowly, and the motion seemed to cost him every ounce of remaining strength, every reserve he had left after the emotional devastation of confrontation.
"That is what I came here for," Maelor continued, his voice carrying the raw honesty of someone who had stripped away every defense and stood naked before judgment.
"Not for power. Not for control of the Council. Not for the glamour of royal authority or the satisfaction of political victory. I came here to keep my children safe. Everything else is secondary to that.
Everything else is negotiable. Everything else can be sacrificed if necessary. But their safety is not. Their lives are not. I will not make that calculation again, and I will do whatever is necessary to ensure that never happens."
Jack stared at Maelor for a long moment.
"Then we have an understanding," Jack said.
Maelor nodded once, a motion sharp and definitive, and in that single gesture was contained the entirety of what would come next.
