It was a loss almost too terrible to comprehend. Had it been told to her at another time, Cassiopeia would have instinctively gone to him with words of comfort, despite knowing they did little to help. As it was? Her desire for peace, her horror of the situation that made either saving or killing others a necessity, it displeased him in a way that she simply didn't understand.
Fearing that anything she said now would only make matters worse, she let Richard go.