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Chapter Forty-Three: A Second Response

Author: Damilare
last update publish date: 2026-09-09 05:58:14

Drafting our formal response to Sovereign Thorne required nearly a full week of careful deliberation, every word weighed against the delicate balance between genuine caution and the practical necessity of not closing off a potential alliance before we fully understood what threat, if any, actually existed.

"We cannot simply demand access to his territory," Bertram cautioned, reviewing the third draft I'd composed with Marla's careful guidance. "That request alone could be read as presumptuous,
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