I cannot put much stock in the notion of—solidarity among rifters, we are far too disparate to bind together past the shared shock of arrival. It is not as a rifter that he disappoints me, but as a right-thinking individual.

( those are strong words for the pocket politician. )

But he did not speak against it. I am to understand rather that he and the Commander worked quite in concert—it was Scoutmaster Ashara who came to me with warnings of what they intended. That she had been strong-armed by the pair to give way, and must prioritise her people. I blamed her not at all. That she gave me the opportunity to take the teeth from their retaliation was more than I might have expected.