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They took us to the harbour- equipped with a few cells for sundry slers or excessively boisterous sailors Thanks to the excitable port official a crowd had begun to form on the wharf by the time the soldiers closed in around us “If I aht to hear the charge”

“Quiet!” he snapped, face flushing as he eyed the gathering throng on the quayside “It’ll be all I can do to get you clear of here without this lot stringing you from the nearest mast”

I could hear them now, despite the thickness of the walls that surrounded us, a classic baying e the Hope!” seest their chants

“‘It is only in the Alpiran Empire that the rule of law is truly respected,’” Fornella quoted in a faintly bitter voice As ever her ly accurate “‘Justice being applied equally regardless of station All, froared subject to the Emperor himself, can expect equal treat the cell and wincing at the occasional upsurge in the mob’s fury “What can you have done to arouse such ire, my lord?” she asked, her tone more than a trifle sarcastic “Perhaps offended the Empress in sohed and sat down next to h her hair and issuing a groan of annoyance at the grey tresses coo?”

I watched her hold the hair up to the light fro they rese a mental note to write the observation down later, should I be afforded the opportunity “Is this what happens?” I asked “When you are denied the blood of the Gifted?”

“To the best ofhas undergone this particular trial Some have been killed of course, assassinated or fallen in war, such is the nature of Volarian politics But, once blessed, none have tried to exist without feeding”

She opened her hand and let the hair fall to the floor, pausing a ht, a faint sely, I find I don’t miss it at all Mortality, as it transpires, has its co of locks and the traure co felloith handsome if someeathered features and close-cropped hair that now hadnote of his uniform and the star embossed onto the centre of his breastplate, the crest of a Cohort Commander “Promoted at last, I see”

“Lord Verniers” His tone was neutral, though his eyes betrayed a deep caution as they tracked from me to Fornella “Who is she?”

“Fornella Av Entril Av Tokrev,” she said, getting to her feet “Late of the Volarian Empire and now ambassadress on behalf of Queen Lyrna of the Unified Realaze to me “Named a traitor and now you appear in coin to question your vaunted wisdom”

Named a traitorFor all its falsehood the accusation still stung All I have given, all the years of service, and this is ht I knoho has slandered er flashed across his face and he stepped closer “You are narated “And I therefore advise you to exercise great care over every word you speak”

There was a time I would have retreated from such a man; these brutes always did make me excessively nervous But it seemed constant exposure to their kind had dispelled much of my former timidity They were just men after all, e?” I asked, ive hi as he moved back “All in due course, as dictated by law” He paused, regarding rim reluctance We had never harboured any affection for one another but there had always been a ly offered “All you had to do atch him die, Verniers,” he said “Would it have been so hard?”

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