“This is not your duty. You have not sworn this to me and it is more than I’ve a right to expect.” The idea seemed distasteful to him. Mikino had married once for the sake of nothing but love, and even that had been a mistake. He had learned well enough that happiness was not a thing which could be bought. Perhaps these reasons were better, but he could not bring himself to admire them.
“I had given up,” he smiled in return, gaze dipping away in a manner that might have passed for shy from anyone else. For Mikino it just signaled another shift of that humor inward, a mockery directed at only himself and a simultaneous acceptance of all it entailed. “And if it is not for the sake of your responsibility to the Sidhe? Will your earlier answers stand should our nameless Princess be sworn in after all?”
Azyebel still may be the best choice. Speaking to her gave them options, and a better idea of what directions were available, but it did not dictate the one they would take. There were other Houses to talk to. Mikino did not want a civil war, despite his willingness to threated Sidonie with secession. “You could still leave all this behind. Perhaps I should not have quit asking. If I knew all it would take was a war… “