Book’s eyebrows raise, then wrinkle in sympathy. The boy jumps immediately to extremes, so maybe this is the person he needs to convince. “There is a long way between those ideas. Defend the helpless, shelter the weak, tend to the sick. But if taken too far? That idea can turn slowly into an attack. To lash out at those someone fears would cause a slaughter,” a gesture to the boy, using his words, “when they haven’t harmed anyone.”

“We have been told there is a war. But we have also been told that there have been no active battles for a long time. No acts of aggression. This is a moment where fighting could turn worse. Or where the tide might be turned towards peace. Us, we who haven’t been wounded by this declared enemy? We may find a way where other hearts have been hardened by war.”