Lord Reed stopped moving. His hands hung down by his sides. He closed his eyes for a brief moment then exhaled.
A long, weary sigh came out of his chest. He felt very old in that moment. The skin around his eyes looked deep and wrinkled under the dim candlelight. He opened his eyes.
"I'll call for a meeting with the four great houses of Daril. Her crimes are too much for me alone to ask for a pardon. I will need their intervention."
This is because if the king signed an execution order, only the combined voice of all five great houses could stop the execution axe from falling.
The aide nodded.
Lord Reed dismissed him with a short wave of his hand.
The aide left, stepping quietly through the doorway and closing the door behind him without making a single sound.
