POV: Ronan Montague

No one accepted my challenge immediately.

The Council members were politicians, not warriors. They'd spent decades making others fight their battles. Being forced into direct combat revealed the weakness beneath their authority.

"This is barbaric," one Council member said. "We don't resolve policy disputes through violence."

"You resolved my relationship through violence when you forced Juliana into a ceremony that killed her. I'm just responding in kind."

"That's ...