Scarleth grabbed me from behind, and I didn't fight him. Obsidian shook his head, unsure of how to react. He simply placed his hands over mine, and I surrendered the gun to him. There was too much red tape to save me. A pride of immeasurable height had been bruised. Genevieve recovered the message I sent her with my eyes. 'It was not me.' Coup rolled on his back like a dog on the moss-covered ground, holding his eye. The next time you see anything, it will be the dead speaking back. And no one will believe your testimony. I have ended you.
"Let me at least have an hour to heal him, before you send him back out?" Genevieve begged. "At this rate, he will die on the flatland. Someone call Sickamore. Regardless of what his partner has done, he is still Nuli."
Zed spat. "He's been through worse than this."
The Queen Nuli scanned her granddaughter up and down. Genevieve averted her gaze. The Queen Nuli inhaled and exhaled hard, puffing out her stomach.