Gianna bit her lip and stared at me. "If my lady wishes to beat or kill someone, direct it at me. Why strike my nursemaid? Are you truly not afraid the heir will punish you when he returns?"
"Cruel as you are, the marriage may have been brokered by the Commission itself, but if you harm the heir's child, he can still dissolve the alliance all the same."
I smiled. "Miss Valenti puts on quite the performance. Perhaps she should take it to the Southside dinner theater."
"If the heir wants to champion your cause, by all means, send him to me. I won't run from it."
The crowd of onlookers grew indignant. "You've gone too far! Just because her station is lower than yours, she deserves to be humiliated?"
"Exactly! She's seven or eight months along, about to give birth. A kick like that could kill her!"
"She knows the Commission's ruling protects her from being cast aside, so she acts without fear."
Gianna straightened up, trembling, both hands pressing over her pregnant belly as though it were the only thing keeping her upright. She looked at me through her tears. "I know my station is lowly. I came specifically to beg my lady's mercy. I never imagined she would try to end my life."