I had never been inside of her tent. The interior was exactly as I would have guessed: impeccably maintained, with a simple bed, planning desk, collapsible shelf system that held clothes, half a dozen sitting pillows, and a rack for her war gear. Other than the pillows, it looked identical to mine. She liked to have her commanders meet nightly to review training and battle strategies. I preferred everyone to stand so that we didn't waste too much time debating. “I wanted to speak with you. Do you have a moment?” I felt the surge of nervous energy rise through my chest and I focused on calming my heartbeat and breathing so Shlara would not detect the change. I had gone over this in my head already dozens of times, anticipating what she would say, how she would react. I had planned for every possible outcome that I could imagine, but I wasn’t naïve enough to believe I had thought of every possible reaction she could have. This task felt more impossible than any of the recent battles.
