Of course, the nobles were unmoved by such words, as Hod knew they would be. They did not feel the same passion for the Stormfront as he did – few did, for that matter. He'd learned to expect it from people after struggling with it for so long.
"This here is a country of strength. It has to be, to function," Hod went on. "We know this, because you bow to power. You bow to the High King, because he has absolute authority over all the armies this nation has. It is not stacks of gold that keep enemies away from our border – we are not a merchant nation. It is the sword, and it is the man. What do you think of Dominus Patrick, I wonder? Apart from your distaste for him, as the outcast that he was, do you think him to be an immoral man?"
