I was trying to protect you. When had love become a weapon with which to destroy each other? She hugged her knees and squeezed tight. If she didn’t hold herself together, she would fly apart. She just knew it.

After an eternity, Una said, “I’m sorry.”

Wren flinched in surprise. “What?”

“Don’t make me repeat myself.” Then, she sighed, a defeated, anxious sound. “I should have listened to you. I should have trusted you. And I shouldn’t have said all those awful things to you at the ball. I was wrong, and I’m sorry.”

Wren watched the dust swirl through thick bars of sunlight. She pressed her hands into the cold stone beneath her. These were real things, solid things. What she was hearing … She had to be imagining it. In all the years they’d known each other, she could count on both hands the number of times Una had ever apologized to her. She was too stunned to answer immediately. But Una was waiting, and in the uncertain slant of her eyebrows was something unfamiliar. Vulnerability.

“You were following the queen’s orders,” Wren said. “I understand why you did what you did.”

“Following orders. I’ve spent my whole life following orders. I thought that was the best way I could serve Danu. What’s a country but the strength of its queen?” Bitterness crept into her voice. “But it’s clear to me now that I’ve kept my eyes half shut. What the queen wants for Danu isn’t what’s best or what’s right. If she executes Cavendish, bloodshed is unavoidable. I won’t sit idly by while that snake Lowry encourages her to needlessly sacrifice lives. Not when those lives are in my hands.”

“Why are you telling me all this?” Wren’s voice wavered with uncertainty, with stubborn hope.

“I know you’ve got some kind of scheme,” Una said. “I want in.”

Wren could only stare at her. This was Una Dryden, the queen’s most loyal servant. Unwavering in her pursuit of order and justice. A future general. The Una Wren knew did not choose Hal Cavendish as the lesser of two evils. And she certainly did not encourage any of Wren’s harebrained schemes.

“Why should I trust you now, after everything we’ve done to each other?”

Una crossed her arms. “I don’t blame you if you don’t trust me, but frankly, it’d be wasted effort to sabotage your plan from within. It’s you and Cavendish against the entire country. The odds aren’t good.”

“Thanks,” Wren muttered sourly. At least she could always count on Una’s honesty. More tentatively, she said, “You joining us doesn’t exactly improve our odds much, you know. Why would you throw away everything you’ve worked for?”