There was anger in every stride, and he was fully prepared to bear the brunt of it.“This is not how I wanted to achieve victory.” Xander’s voice was shaking with indignation.“Does it matter?” Cynric asked, but he already knew the answer before Xander even answered.“It does to a moral man,” Xander said.Cynric stood, closing the book he’d been reading. “I deserve that,” he said. “And I know you are a man of action, a soldier. But consider, Xander, that there are many weapons in a war. Was it so wrong to use the villagers’ beliefs to our advantage? We knew spring was coming to Windbourne; it had already come to the south. Had we relied on breaking them militarily, in the time it took, more would have died from hunger. Ultimately, promising a new king who could restore spring won our objective from within. We overthrew Avin; isn’t that what you wanted?”“I wanted a fair fight, Cynric,” Xander shot back, clenching and unclenching his fist as he paced. “I didn’t want her maligned and disgraced for something she couldn’t control.”Cynric arched a thin brow.
