Jack watched with mild interest at best. When the screaming died to whimpers, he turned to the eight hundred Starfell soldiers.
"Well?" he asked softly. "Who wants to volunteer to fight for your emissary? Show me that House Starfell's courage that led you to abandon your oaths."
The soldiers stared back, terror and defiance mixing on their faces. One of them, a captain by his insignia, stepped forward with his jaw clenched.
"We don't take orders from you," the captain said, voice shaking but determined. "We're sworn to House Starfell, not House Kaiser. You have no authority over us."
"Yeah!" another soldier shouted, finding courage in his captain's defiance. "We don't have to do shit! We want to live our own lives and forge our own paths!"
Murmurs of agreement rippled through the Starfell forces. Eight hundred men found solidarity in resistance.
