KATHERINE
Rowan stuttered as he tried to find a way around my question, but I didn't let him move an inch. I kept my eyes locked on his until he finally sighed and shifted. He told me that the rebels couldn't be trusted under any circumstances, and that was why we needed to have something over them. He argued that if we were hoping to use them as a weapon against Stephen, we had to be the ones holding the leash.
I felt a wave of irritation wash over me, and I shook my head. I told him straight out that I wasn't going to be like Stephen or his council of elders. I wasn't interested in playing those kinds of games. I told him I was going to do things purely because they were the right thing to do, not because I had a hidden agenda or a trap to set.
That sparked a sharp disagreement betwe
