"The season is a good place to start," Ava agreed with a small nod. "If you swore for longer and had, or wanted, to leave before the time was up, there is a chance it would break the oath. Without any firsthand experience of that, I would assume it would have to do with how a person left and why. And, that would mean whatever benefit the pledge had given you for being a part of the Freehold would sour." Not forever, but she wasn't keen to downplay the seriousness of breaking an oath.
It was an interesting question: at what point did the pledge break? It would, she assumed, hold indefinitely until a person either put the Freehold in jeopardy somehow, or gave up any intention of returning, breaking the promise through negligence. She didn't imagine any of those who had left and returned would be interested in answering such a query.
Speaking of, she followed Evelynn's gaze. "That's Terri and Rick. Terri was out of town for a little while, just got back from the look of things. They've both been a part of the Freehold for quite some time." They were adorable, she supposed, though the corners of her mouth tugged downward for a split second in distaste at the word. There was nothing wrong with being adorable, objectively, it just wasn't a word she preferred to associate with the Court of Fear. But, with both Terri and Morgan in their midst, the Ashen Court was looking cuter every day. C'est la vie. Being cute didn't suddenly rob a person of their merit.
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