So that's what really happened. The story as she knew it is reframed in an instant: Ben was the destroyer of Luke's work. That Leia should have hidden this truth made sense, of course—the revelations around Vader had rocked the New Republic and Amilyn knew well how much pain that had caused Leia. It stung to realize she'd been lied to, but— "I understand," Amilyn said, her voice soft. Force, how much should one woman endure? Amilyn's heart broke once again for her friend, even as she felt the deepest awe for Leia's sheer goodness in the face of trials that would have destroyed anyone else.

"I'm so sorry. It's—that's such an inadequate thing to say, Leia, but I am."