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Luther took his time, searching the ceiling for his words. “This was many years ago, and back then, you were often abroad, but you at least remember how Gabriel was always being groomed for the throne, yes?”

“Of course.”

“Well, one summer, that extended much further. Father explained to Gabriel that one day Atreya would become a global superpower, that it would be Gabriel’s responsibility to see that dream realized. Father’s reasoning, he said, was that Atreya needed two things--the first of which was time to flourish. And you may have noticed, it has done just that. Our people have grown quite wealthy in recent years. I attribute that to our father. The second thing Atreya needed, he said, was land. He believed that the country’s growth would inevitably plateau so long as we possessed so little land and so few people. And on that matter, I believe he has also been proven correct. And given that the Age of Exploration is long dead, there are only two methods by which we might acquire more land.”

“Purchase or conquest,” David finished.

“Both options are expensive. Worse, the prior is often not an option at all. Good land is usually not for sale, and bad land makes for a bad purchase. Hence, we arrive at our current dilemma. So you see, Gabriel’s obsession is not his own. He carries on our father’s will, who carried on our grandfather’s will.”

David eyed him doubtfully. “Why would Father never tell me of these intentions himself?”

“Oh, I was not meant to hear him speak of it, either. He only intended for Gabriel to know. I overheard purely by chance.”

“I find that difficult to believe.”

“I suppose you would. In his final years, Father obviously had a change of heart. Helen’s appointment was a pitiful effort to undo the mistake that he spent his entire life creating.”

“So you say. Yet you offer nothing in the way of proof.”