She nods, and her face is troubled. Torn. "What all accounts agree on is that she is an enemy of the Emperor. Certainly now, if not before he imprisoned her."

"If she kills him, Dominicus will be snuffed out and the Houses will die. I do not desire that. I pray she sleeps a long, long time. But I--" She swallows.

I am her creature.

"I cannot hate her. Perhaps there is a death appointed for us all, even God."