[She tries not to. She needs to be quiet, so she's not found, but the second he puts his hands on her shoulders she breaks, sobbing.]

N-no-- You don't understand, my life, my lands, my status, my fortune, it was only-- [She can't look at him. Not when she's like this.] What good is an alliance with an empire that doesn't even exist? [She sets poor Tad Cooper down beside her, and tries to close in on herself further. She tries to breathe, while she still can-- but that thought in itself distresses her even more.]

I'm finally going to lose it.