Cold wind cuts through the deep palace armory. Queen Araneidan stands at the stone railing beside the new breach, her gaze fixed on the guards below in the streets.
Queen Araneidan
Your standard is taking root, Eden. I see that. But what else is it tearing open?
Below, repaired ranks move stiffly through the courtyard, more disciplined than before, yet uneven where old habits break under the new commands. The crack in the wall exhales frost behind them.
Princess Eden Siranteos
Princess Eden Siranteos answers with a hard stare, saying the guard must be strong enough to hold.
Queen Araneidan
Strength that strains stone and bone alike can still fail a kingdom. If every wall must be remade after your victories, how long before the whole palace begins to split?
A mason arrives at the breach, slows at the sight of the shattered masonry, then looks from Eden to the Queen for authority. The guard below waits on the edge of change, ready for either repair or another order.
Captain Vaelorin
If the wall holds, the guard holds. Give the word, and we begin the reinforcement at once.
✓ Quest Accepted
Justify Eden’s aggressive restructuring to the Queen
“I tell the queen that the damage is the fault of her own as she refused to listen to me when i said i was strong enough to continue, so i did what had to be done to prove her wrong.”
SUCCESS (Superb Willpower, rolled +2)
Queen Araneidan
You did not break stone by accident, Eden. You answered hesitation with force, and the palace revealed what it was hiding.
Princess Eden Siranteos
Princess Eden Siranteos says the damage is the fault of the Queen's refusal to accept her strength, and that she was forced to prove it.
Queen Araneidan
So that is your judgment. Better a cracked wall than a guarded lie.
Captain Vaelorin
The wall failed where it was weak. Her command exposed that weakness before an enemy could.
Queen Araneidan
Coldly, she studies the breach, the frost, the disciplined ranks below, and the way the new passage now stands revealed.
Queen Araneidan
Then speak plainly, Captain. If Eden is right, what must be reforged first, the wall, or the men who trusted it?
The mason lowers his tools and waits. Wind threads through the opening, and the hidden passage beyond remains half-lit, half-secret.
Quest Complete
Justify Eden’s aggressive restructuring to the Queen