"They weren't really wrong, were they, my Lady?"
Diarmuid's words filled the carriage, leaving no room for any other thoughts than the singular phrase. The people of Maeril were afraid that their homes would be attacked next… and in one sense, it was true, because Maeril really had been Ashlynn's next target.
"But I never had a grudge against the common people," Ashlynn said softly as she gazed out the window of the carriage, watching the houses and shops roll by. "It wouldn't have been necessary to harm them in order to occupy the town," she said, though she shook her head at the end.
"It might not have been avoidable, in some cases," she admitted. "But I've tried to limit harm to common people as much as I can. I would have thought that people would have realized that when the raids were so restrained…"
