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“Beggar the whole bounty for this chief prize”

“The Eye is not a razor to be wielded by any round in exhaustion

“I am not just any man Would any man have such demons as I? Ajax, Atalantia, Atlas…”

“They were responsible for your stay in Deepgrave, I gather But what of the source of all this? What of Darrow?”

“A kinship bonds allof the soul In tiht rise But what savvy butcher would loosen the vise that keeps his demons in thrall before their comeuppance comes due?”

“Then the answer is no”

“No?” His laugh is beautiful and presumptuous

“Atalantia and Atlas are not my enemies”

“But Ajax is…after his betrayal?” How long has he followed me? I do not answer him He chuckles to himself “One is the father, the other the lover They will choose Ajax Without my aid, you will die here, seed of Lune Without my aid, you will die anywhere”

“I have no quarrel with you, Apollonius, but will not be bridled with a debt to you either”

“Yet you begged me to aid you”

“That was the boy inside He is dead”

“That was five o!”

“Are you the same you were then? Is Seneca?” He does not reply as I stand “You sound hungry, Apollonius” I do not feel stronger now than I did fivewith a plan for escape All I know is that there is more inside me than I knew If I die, it will not be on my knees

Menace enters his voice “I could kill you now I am not these men”