Iliana crawled across the floor to Emanuel. After one nod from the king, the guard stepped back and he pushed the knife back in between Emanuel's shoulder blades. Iliana gasped but he didn't scream, he bit down and his face turned red but he waited for her calmly. I envied the way that his arms opened up for her, he was ready to catch her in all of her pain despite being trapped in his own agonizingly painful position.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” Emanuel cried into the crock of ...