all, or nothing at all

This isn't a new question; not a fresh concept such as to shake the foundations of a practically-conjoined stream of Blade-and-Driver thought. Neither had it ever needed to be posed bluntly, unsubtle and dropped with all the weight and precision of a Shield Hammer.

And Brighid's opinion, though Mòrag might buck against it, is just the same as it has always been. What a talent she has, herself, for being blessedly unsubtle, when she wishes it.

They're beyond petty reassurances that preserve appearance for others, no matter nobility, that might look on.

"Lady Mòrag, I would live forever as your heart, or I would not live at all. There is nothing else for me."

"Nothing, Brighid?" Mòrag's tone is querulous, yet oddly firm. "I cannot allow myself to take away your individuality. Your freedom, even as you remain a servant of the Empire."

"What freedom I have," Brighid replies, "I give willingly to your side."

In other words, what Mòrag cannot allow herself, Brighid will allow for her.

How ironic. That Mòrag, by wishing to prevent herself from taking control or advantage of any of Brighid's faculties for even the faintest instant, now stands to bar her from that which she professes most deeply and ardently to want.

"I...suppose I must think about it."

That much, surely, is her own due.