Elara's POV
The arrests were moving fast.
Every day, more people were taken. From the lower districts, from the streets, from the markets where they had been buying bread and selling vegetables and living their ordinary lives. The council was unified on this in a way they were rarely unified on anything. The Rendered were responsible. The crackdown must continue. Any hesitation from the queen was weakness she could not afford right now.
I sat in those meetings and nodded and signed what needed to be signed.
And privately, persistently, I could not shake the feeling that we were punishing the wrong people.
"The evidence is clear, Your Majesty." Petrov's voice was smooth, reasonable. He had been saying the same thing for days now, in different words, with different emphases, but always the same conclusion. "The Rendered have proven themselves capable of accessing the palace. Their leader has been openly inciting violence against the crown. The connection is obvious."
