Admitting wrong can feel like a weakness in fraught political times--but to a soldier who did nothing wrong, it seemed like the best way to keep his trust. And it certainly didn't hurt, considering how Cullen's officers and soldiers always seemed to clear out when the two of them needed some space to themselves on the battlements.

"I don't miss those days," she says, drawing a finger over the curve of his lower lip, "but I was rather fond of how pleased the soldiers were to see you with a sweetheart."