He walked away from her cell, and every step was an act of will.
Her silence had been an answer, a confession louder than any word she could have spoken. It was the final, damning piece of evidence in a trial he had already decided. He had offered her one last chance, a single, desperate lifeline, and she had refused to take it. She had looked at him with those sharp, stormy grey eyes, and she had said nothing.
He had his truth. Now, he would have his vengeance.
The ward on her door chimed softly as it sealed behind him, a final, melodic note in a symphony of betrayal. He stood in the empty, torch-lit corridor of the tower, the silence a crushing weight. He felt… hollow. The burning rage that had sustained him, that had given him a cold, clear purpose, was gone. In its place was only a vast, empty, and aching void.
He had wanted her to lie.
