After the weight of the previous discussion—the chilling possibility of a captured association member, the scenarios laid out, the calculated readiness of Virencia's finest—the sudden challenge from Commander Alec felt… almost ridiculous.
Almost.
Luke was still trying to process it as he walked the stone corridor outside the meeting room, the faint tap of Ilyrana's footsteps beside him the only sound between them. His mind reeled from the whiplash. Just a minute ago, they were talking about strategic responses to extremist threats. Now, he was being called a coward and summoned to the training grounds, as if it were some schoolyard duel.
A duel. With Commander Alec.
He didn't know whether to laugh or sprint in the opposite direction.
Seriously? he thought. One moment it's national security, the next it's "fight me like a man."
