“You stand before us and propose a desecration of the natural cycle. This is the reason why vivimancers can never be trusted, not even for a moment. They are corrupt from conception! This is why this country faces war even now. One moment of leniency and their corrupted natures will seek to spread their contamination.” He turned to the Council members seated beside him, inclining his head. “I am ashamed that such apostasy could be uttered by my oblate. I beg the Council’s forgiveness. She will be taken in hand, placed in chains, and stripped of all—”
“We are fighting a war against the dead and the Undying,” Helena said. She’d known they wouldn’t listen, but surely by now they understood the Eternal Flame couldn’t possibly win if things continued as they were. “It wouldn’t be done to anyon
