When she turned, she bit down on her lip to stifle an embarrassing response. Even if he hadn’t always wanted to be a soldier, Wren had to admit he was born to wear a uniform. As she admired the crisp lines of his shoulders and the braided silver aiguillette draped across his chest, heat spread across her cheeks.

“You look…”

“Please don’t finish that sentence,” Una said.

“I was going to say ready.” Wren huffed. “We’re ready.”

From a shadowed corner of the room, Una’s eyes were as dark and cold as the underside of a stone. “Before we do anything, Cavendish, understand this. I may be serving as your glorified bodyguard until you’re safely home, but once this is over, you will pay for your crimes. Whether it’s two weeks or two decades from now, I will make sure of it.”

“You speak with such conviction, but I have seen officers like you before,” Hal said icily. “You cling to an image of yourself as impartial and cold, but you’re governed by your grudges. I doubt you will last long enough to see your promise through.”

Una unsheathed the sword at her hip. “Insult me again. I dare you.”

“That’s enough!” Wren growled. “Both of you, stop it.”

“Yes, go on!” Una snarled. “Hide behind her. Hide behind all your goddessdamned shields like the coward you are.”

“I said—”

“Captain Dryden is right.” Una lowered her sword at the same moment Hal bowed his head. “I don’t expect or deserve your acceptance. Please forgive me for my rudeness.”

“Ah.” As Una slunk closer to him, her boots tapped out a deadly rhythm on the floor. She placed the hilt of her blade under his chin, forcing him to look at her. There was a predatory glow in her eyes, as if she intended to carve out the flicker of vulnerability he’d shown. To study it. To destroy it. “There it is. Weak for a girl, like the worst of us.”

The acid in her voice, however, couldn’t disguise her fear.

Of course she was afraid—Una had risked everything to be here.

She could have turned a blind eye to the evidence and kept the promotion she’d always wanted. She could have killed Hal on sight back in Cernos. But Una had always done the right thing, even if it was the hard thing. And after everything Una had seen in the war, after everything she’d lost, maybe saving Hal was the hardest thing.

“You expect me to believe someone like you is capable of caring for her—for anyone? You’ve wiped out entire Danubian units single-handedly. You’ve killed children. Healers. Your own comrades. What you’ve done is unforgivable.”

“Yes. I know.”

“You know.” Una let out a bitter sound. “Then you know you don’t deserve her.”