Chapter 78

Ronan's POV

The broken seat left an uneven silence. People got to their feet, called for water and found the wounded. Severin's voice no longer carried through any of them. Tamsin cuffed him with ordinary iron while two guards took his knife. He said I had doomed the wards; she told him he could explain that to the people who would hear the charges against him.

Mara sat on the lower step with her palm turned upward. The stone had burned it red. I knelt in front of her and waited until she looked at me.

“Can I hold you?”

“Please.”

She came into my arms hard enough to hurt my ribs. I rested my cheek against her hair and let her breathe there. Around us, the guards carried a wounded man up the stairs, and someone found