"[i]You[/i] would tell [i]me[/i] of family and duty?"

She stands at the center of the storm, never knowing which way the next blow will come from. But that is not why the mask slips. That's not why the King wavers, why now Alexa shouts into the winds, grief written on her face.

"I remember what it was like before the rift! I predate it! My duty to my family is the reason we're cursed!

"For family, I fed oceans to his planet-devourers! For duty, I executed Molech's will and Molech's people! Had I done my duty to my family--had I not turned away in hope of something better--the whole galaxy might have burned, instead of just half!

"Would you have me make the same mistakes again?

"Without love, what is duty but blind obedience? Without love, what is a family but a chain of command? Sit still! Fit in your niche! Put your neck back into the collar of hopelessness!

"And I will not!"