Gavriel looked at Guinevere. Then at the floor, then at the bench.
"I agreed to advocate for reduced charges." Each word arrived separately, placed down with the care of a man arranging fragile things on a table he expected to break. "I signed a document in her cell stating I would speak to the Crown Prince and request leniency. I did speak to him. And I did request it."
He inhaled.
"I agreed to try. I was unaware of the extent of what I was agreeing to defend. I cannot, in conscience, stand before this court and advocate for a woman who did those things to a person I..." He stopped. Recalibrated. The word he had been about to say was a grenade, and he disarmed it mid-throw. "...who I, as Gamma of Drakenfell, am sworn to protect."
