  &quot;What do you mean?&quot; I inquire, voice trembling slightly for fear of the extreme reactions of the Berkeley men. &quot;Surely the assassination of one man, however awful for the family and the country, ought not to result in a war on the scale you expect.&quot;
  &quot;If all persons on Earth were rational, I could agree with you,&quot; Wesley replies wearily. &quot;But such is not the case. The Archduke was the heir to the throne of the Austrian Empire. Understandably, the Austrians are extremely upset. My sources in Austria say that they are demanding restitution from the Serbian government. The Serbs, meanwhile, claim that the perpetrator of this crime is a member of an extremist fringe group and has nothing to do with the Serbian government, and thus they view the Austrian demands for restitution from the Serbian government as nothing less than ridiculous.&quot;
  &quot;The

  My dear sister Kyla,
  Your last letter has greatly disconcerted me. I find it strange that one such as you, who always scorned the things of God and the Church, should now so strongly turn to faith for solace. Understand, I have no objection to your faith, but rather to your circumstances. Does not your dear Weston have any power to protect you from his parents? Dearest sister, I implore you, charge him with this: If he truly loves you, he will do everything he can to protect you from such misery as that which I fear you must currently experience. Please do not be angry with me for encouraging this course of action; I am simply concerned about you, as any sister and friend would be after receiving a letter from you such as your last one.
  On a slightly brighter note, the revelations brought to me in your last letter, about how your marriage came about, where you are, what your in-law

  &quot;Are you sure the roof is the best place for this? Wouldn t the training room be better?&quot; Dmitri asks nervously once we reach the rooftop garden.
  &quot;This is where I ve done all my practising thus far. I d be most comfortable here,&quot; I insist.
  &quot;You ve been practising without my noticing? How?&quot;
  &quot;I ve gotten better at controlling my energy fields. The practise with you in the training room helped with that. Surely you noticed?&quot;
  &quot;I was generally too busy getting drenched. I wish you d spend more time learning to control the water.&quot;
  &quot;If I have to get better at all of it, does it really matter where I start? It s not like we re in a war or anything, or like my skill really matters all that much.&quot;
  &quot;Fair point. What else have you learned to do, then?&quot; he sighs. He s probably annoyed with me. Oh well. I draw a few de

&quot;What do you mean?&quot; I inquire, voice trembling slightly for fear of the extreme reactions of the Berkeley men. &quot;Surely the assassination of one man, however awful for the family and the country, ought not to result in a war on the scale you expect.&quot;
  &quot;If all persons on Earth were rational, I could agree with you,&quot; Wesley replies wearily. &quot;But such is not the case. The Archduke was the heir to the throne of the Austrian Empire. Understandably, the Austrians are extremely upset. My sources in Austria say that they are demanding restitution from the Serbian government. The Serbs, meanwhile, claim that the perpetrator of this crime is a member of an extremist fringe group and has nothing to do with the Serbian government, and thus they view the Austrian demands for restitution from the Serbian government as nothing less than ridiculous.&quot;
  &quot;The rest should be easy enough, from our studies,&quot; Dmitri adds. &quot;You know how closely allied 

Chapter 33 Portents of War