She laughed again, short and sharp, but not unkindly.

"More than mercy. I paid her," she said. But Hild shrugged, unperturbed by this. She had not questioned this course of action at all when Begu suggested it.

"I wanted for her happiness, Hild explained. "I could not force her to take a gift she did not want."

She tilted her head in curiosity. "Did this Agron truly love his master so?"