At least. [She tells him wryly, but something in her has thawed, and she's absently petting his shoulder with her right hand now, the light friction warming his skin.] But that's nothing to compare with what they'd call me.

[A war boy gone rogue would be tortured and killed, no question. For a traitorous Imperator, ideally, it ought to be done publicly. By the other Imperators, and carried out viciously as possible in order to allow them to prove their own loyalty.]

They've lost our track for now, though. And I can promise you, if they find us again, they won't take us alive. [Cold comfort, maybe, but there are worse ways to go than a bullet to a the head or a windpipe crushed by a metal claw. She can't swear to protect any of them, but she can make sure they don't get dragged back through the sand to torment and disgrace.]

If you're truly with us, we're with you.