Lensa sobbed into my shoulder as the guards sauntered away victoriously.

"I'm sorry," Pelleas breathed. "I should have gotten here sooner, I should have known they were here. I should have–"

"Stop," I cut him off. "There is nothing you could have done short of slaughtering them in the middle of the street."

"Maybe I should have. It would mean a few less loyalists to the Throne."

I had never heard Pelleas speak so bluntly, especially ...