Rhenna’s POV

I admitted that the others would not understand, and he told me they need not, which is to say we could move armies without the consent of fear and that a few hearts spared ignorance make cruelty more efficient. When he demanded the blade, I refused because the pulse it held throbbed with something I could not relinquish without trading outcome for a lie.

The screen went black, and the blade remained locked in its drawer, pulsing like a wound, and I sent the order that would ...