"Or I can have you tell me here and now," Blackthorn said, not voicing any threats along with that line, but the forcefulness with which he said it seemed to imply it.
"I wonder," Fitzer said. "What if it had been you that I faced, General Blackthorn, with those two thousand men? Would you have managed to best me? Would it have been a better fight for I?"
There was a brief silence, in which Fitzer smiled at the small little victory that he imagined he held. "No. I do not think you could have. I think you yourself are aware of that fact. That is why you come to me, rather than speaking to your ally, is it not? These are times of war, and yet you see him as a competitor. Ha! Childish, Lord Blackthorn. Childish indeed. Though I suppose I was no different with Tussle, for all the good it ended up doing the two of us…"
"Speak," Blackthorn said. "How did you allow yourself to be bested?"
