"Mother! Father!" Sherry screamed, trying to run forward, but a Legionnaire's iron grip held her fast.
Her parents looked up. Their fine robes were torn and stained. Their faces were bruised, their bodies trembling with exhaustion and suppressed magic. But their eyes, when they saw Sherry, were filled with a love so fierce it was painful to watch.
"Sherry!" her mother, Sorina, cried out, her voice cracking. "Oh, my dear child. We are so sorry!"
"Silence, traitor," the Justicar snapped, his voice echoing in the vast hall.
The Emperor raised a single hand. The hall fell into absolute silence. His voice, when he spoke, was not a shout, but a whisper that seemed to creep into the very bones of all present.
