There was a long moment where it looked like Octavia wasn't going to say anything. Her knuckles were white with the way she was gripping the empty glass, and her head was down. Strands of damp hair hanging down, obscuring her face.

Then, through gritted teeth, she spoke. "I led Wonkru as well as I could," she said. Every word sounded like it took effort - and like she resented that. "I made, and I enforced, the hard decisions, so that they wouldn't have to live with -- things that had to be done."