Return of the Scarlet Empress III - The Lookshy War

[Maugan Ra]

"I'm not denying that we could help here." Zhou says quietly, looking down at the Lunar on the floor. "But I am not an officer in this army. I am an officer in the Seventh Legion. My oaths are sworn to Lookshy, not to Kharal Fire Orchid. Duty, honour, even blood... they all tell me I should be standing in Lookshy when the invasion comes, not marching with a foreign army."

His expression darkens. "Especially not one commanded by a general who insults my wife, assumes she can order me around and expect obedience, and attempts to bind me to her cause with mind-twisting magic."

"There are a lot of reasons I should leave now, and be damned to what Fire Orchid thinks or wants. I am having difficulty thinking of reasons to stay and fight under her command, especially when there is no guarantee that we would do nearly as much good here as back in Lookshy."