"I'm a good girl..."
She laughed softly to herself.
"I remembered everything..."
The words settled over the chamber like ice.
No one moved.
No one spoke.
Even the physicians, men who had devoted their lives to witnessing suffering without allowing themselves to become overwhelmed by it, found themselves staring in silent horror at the woman lying before them.
Thessian slowly closed his eyes.
Only for a single moment.
When he opened them again, every trace of hesitation had disappeared. Whatever struggle had existed within him had reached its conclusion, replaced by the quiet certainty that always preceded one of his decisions.
"Give her a tranquilizer."
His voice never rose.
It remained calm, measured, and unwavering, yet no one present mistook that calmness for indifference. They understood immediately that it had cost him more to speak those four words than any order he had ever issued upon a battlefield.
The physicians reacted at once.
