Both of them were enveloped in deafening silence.
For a moment, Gideon looked as if he might argue. His jaw tightened, shoulders subtly squaring the way they always did when he prepared to assert command. Instead, he exhaled slowly and deliberately, the breath leaving him in a controlled stream.
"You're right," he finally spoke.
The admission fell heavier than any order ever could.
Henrietta blinked once, caught off guard despite herself. She had expected resistance, deflection, control...
Not like this.
Gideon stepped back from the weapons, hands falling loosely at his sides. A visible withdrawal.
Not surrender, but space.
"If you're here," he continued, "it's because you chose to be."
Her shoulders eased by a fraction. "And if I leave?" she asked.
His eyes held hers. "Then
