“Maybe I should have chosen not to fight at all.”
“What would have happened if you did?”
He drew a finger across his neck to answer her question. “Abandoning your post in wartime is considered treason among my people,” he said. “It’s punishable by execution. So, I guess the only way to avoid any of this would have been to never join the military in the first place.”
“Why did you?”
“Why does any Ragnosian join up?” Novol growled. “Because I was poor as f**k and lacking other opportunities.”
Sighing softly, Keli put a hand on his shoulder, a gesture that calmed him. “You’re a good man, Novol Raan,” she murmured. “Don’t let anyone tell you different.”
Now, when had that happened? When had she become the kind of person who invested so much energy in taking care of other people? She suspe
