Hawkeye couldn’t shake the haunting vision of her hateful stare.

“Some people look at us – the rich, the powerful – and they think our lives are so easy.”

His voice wavered, but he took a shuddering breath and forged on.

“But what it is to have wealth – it’s the expectations. How you should behave, who you should know, what you should do. I tried, I tried so hard to be a good son. Part of the family. Didn’t question when my – the Earl asked me to help him with the refinement of Byzantium.”

He looked at her, eyes wide, pleading. She looked at him helplessly, not understanding. He looked down, ashamed, and muttered the terrible, terrible truth.

“I did it, Elletra. I – I discovered Nightmare. It’s all my fault, all of it.”

Elletra couldn’t believe it. She just stared back, mouth agape.

“But in the – in the workshop, you said -”

“I lied. I got a second chance at the girl of my dreams and I – I couldn’t just throw it away. I’m sorry. If you want to leave, if you hate me, that’s no more than I deserve.”