their fall from grace will pave their path

Björn⁢ shifts his weight, leaning in. Only a breath from the girl, words weighty enough to fill the nominal space between them. The rot prince can't help himself, watching her gaze steadily as he speaks. Holding it, refusing to break it. An intensity that can't be overstated, rigid and unyielding. Björn⁢'s convictions are strong, unshakable even. A fire stoked by his father's rejection, and all the things that follow. The horrible things within him sinking their claws in deeper, refusing to let him go. It's for the best.

Or the worst.

"How many kids of our age are fed by the system? Bored, complacent, or worse-- growing fat and lazy with crowns placed on their heads?" Conviction bleeding through his words, leaning into Calliope's space as he speaks. "I'm going to gather the strongest of us together. We can show them what they're missing out on, and show the older generations that they're not safe. Their complacency is going to be their undoing." Tense, though words come through like a preacher giving his sermon. Björn⁢ has always been a harbinger, and this time he comes with dark tidings for the rest.

"We're going to carve our names into the world tree, and into the land. All of this relative peace," he spits the word, hackles lifting across his shoulder blades. "It's done them no good. We'll take what wasn't earned, from those who don't deserve it. And then we'll take everything else." Björn⁢ watches the girl carefully as he says his piece, each word dripping with venom and dogma.

"Björn"