"You're taking it too tragically! After all, Edri's not going to be executed."
Remembering Edri's words about the fate of Arrin, Trehearne answered, "I think he'd almost prefer that. Exiled to a remote star, never to fly again, nothing to do but sit and wait for death—"
"But there's nothing you can do, Michael! He's convicted, sentenced. They're taking him off tonight. So there's an end to it."
Trehearne rose to his feet. "I'm going back to the city, Shairn."
"For what?"
"I'm going to see if I can get him away."
She understood then the full depth and danger of his thinking. She caught him fiercely by the arm.
"Are you going to throw away everything you've worked so hard to get for nothing? Remember, Edri's a traitor. No matter how good a friend he was to both of us he's a traitor and deserves his punishment."
"That's how you feel, is it?"
"Is there any other way I could feel? You know what the Orthists are as well as I do."