“Yes,” he sighed again. “If he chose to claim her, there is nothing I could do to stop him.”

“And, yet, he respects your decision. He could have done so even without exposing his secrets simply by choosing not to speak up in your defense. Since you could not divulge your reasons for denying him, Frisha would never have accepted your decision. Had he said nothing, he could have won her hand, anyway,” Adelina observed.

Marcum nodded, “It is true.”

Adelina nodded and said softly, “He is an honorable man, then. I believe what he said about always living by that code of which he often speaks. He is ever courteous and protective of both Frisha’s person and her honor. He truly does seem the embodiment of the term noble.”

The general scoffed, “He is nothing of the sort. He is a killer, Ady.”

“So are you, dear,” Adelina retorted.

“It is not the same. I have killed in battle. He kills whomever he is order to kill,” Marcum argued.

Adelina considered Marcum’s statement and replied, “Does a soldier not kill due to orders? If you were not ordered to the battlefield, would you choose to go and kill? And, if you did choose to go on your own without orders, would that make you a better man or worse? Is the executioner a terrible man because he is ordered to kill the criminals? If the king asked you to kill a traitor quietly so as not to upset the public, would you do so? Is the king a terrible man for asking you to kill anyone? Was Bordran a terrible man? Rezkin may be a killer, but Bordran obviously trusted him to give him so much power. The fact that Rezkin chooses not to use his power to force your hand says a lot about him. I think most young men given that level of power would be tyrants.”

Marcum could not argue with his wife. Everything she said was true, and still the general could not let it go. Why could he not let it go? The answer that came to him was not really a surprise. He had known it all along. Fear. He was afraid of the young man. It had been so long since he met anyone who could instill that kind of fear in him that the general did not know how to react except with righteous anger. Marcum feared for himself, for his family, and he feared for Frisha. He even feared for his kingdom. That dangerous, mysterious young man would be completely within his rights if he ran rampaging through the kingdom. Adelina was right. A young man his age with that amount of power and authority and his level of training could actually become the soulless creature he had accused Rezkin of being.