Some say killers and their weapons like to gamble with each other over the next victim’s name. And that once the wager has been placed, they grow impatient to see whose blood will be made to redden next as it is brought naked to face the air. In this empire, the suspense never lasts long. Executioners in palaces keep their weapons unsheathed by their bedsides, because in the passion of night, lives can be spent so casually. And in the morning, the names of the dead are passed between rulers like coins that gradually wear away until no one can remember if they first represented a slaughtered man or city.
Book Two, Chapter Three
Book Two, Chapter Three
Book Two, Chapter Three
Some say killers and their weapons like to gamble with each other over the next victim’s name. And that once the wager has been placed, they grow impatient to see whose blood will be made to redden next as it is brought naked to face the air. In this empire, the suspense never lasts long. Executioners in palaces keep their weapons unsheathed by their bedsides, because in the passion of night, lives can be spent so casually. And in the morning, the names of the dead are passed between rulers like coins that gradually wear away until no one can remember if they first represented a slaughtered man or city.