"She told me it was to bind me. To destroy me." Kell pushed the fabric into her hand and she looked at it a moment, as if uncertain what it was. She did not use it to dry her eyes. Instead, she simply clutched it, her thumb rubbing across the soft fabric.

Neria forced herself to breathe, just a few steadying breaths.

"I assume that's her trial. Why... I don't know. I know why I've been given my trial. For her--" She looked up at the ceiling, as if she could find the answers there. "To betray? To...bind people, as I kept her in collar?" Kell would know the thought before it even formed: Is all of this my fault?

She never gave voice to it. Her fingers curled in the fabric he gave her. "I don't know."