The Baillif walked toward her carefully, his steps slow and deliberate, as if any sudden movement would shatter the fragile girl standing before him. Her shoulders trembled, her hands balled tightly at her sides. "I understand," he said softly, trying to sound reassuring. "We all understand. But you have to come to your senses. You're asking for the impossible." His voice carried hope that she would calm down, hope that reason would reach her but she wasn't ready to listen.
"You do not understand anything!" she cried out, the words bursting from her like a wound tearing open. "None of you understand. Do you know how painful it is to lose someone, someone very dear and important to you?" Her voice cracked, raw and heavy with grief. She shifted her gaze to the king seated across the room. "You just sit in your high castle where nothing can touch you and have everything within your reach. You were supposed to protect us but you didn't! And now my mother is dead!"
