Abrial's obsidian eyes widened. "Gone? What d'you mean, gone? Gone where? He ran away? Or…?"
Finley's hazel eyes glittered grimly, and Abrial's heart sank right out of her body.
"How…did he die?"
"In the massacre a few months ago. No horse was left alive. He died quickly; there was not a lot of pain."
Abrial's vision flashed red, blurring. She touched her face and looked at her finger, expecting to see blood, then jarred when she only saw salty tears. She was so used to crying tears of blood that tears of saltwater had become unsettling to her. When she spoke, her voice shook slightly
"So… you're saying the Emperor killed Dal?"
"...I suppose indirectly."
Abrial's fists clenched, bunching their blankets tightly. She breathed in sharply.
"I'll kill him," she murmured, her face dark. "I'll volunteer to do it. At that meeting Bi Gho was talking about. I'm gonna kill him."
