1. There is no one
to whom I may entrust my story.Copy !req
2. Perhaps it is unwise to keep a journal.Copy !req
3. A confessionCopy !req
4. to what my enemies would deem my... sins.Copy !req
5. But if I do not write it,Copy !req
6. it will be written for meCopy !req
7. by those who would burn me
at the stake for...Copy !req
8. Who's there?Copy !req
9. You are Lady Johanna Constantine,
are you not?Copy !req
10. Not one step further, sir.Copy !req
11. But we are old friends, you and I.Copy !req
12. We met in a tavern five years gone.Copy !req
13. At the time, you believed me a demon.Copy !req
14. Do you believe it still?Copy !req
15. I have learned differently since.Copy !req
16. There is a task I need accomplished.Copy !req
17. A task
that is beyond the King of Dreams?Copy !req
18. Something of some value to me
has been stolen.Copy !req
19. I cannot involve myself in the matter.Copy !req
20. It is a family affair.Copy !req
21. Is it dangerous?Copy !req
22. Yes.Copy !req
23. Very much so.Copy !req
24. What are you offering me, then?Copy !req
25. I will give you what it is
in my power to give you.Copy !req
26. Where is this task sending me?Copy !req
27. Stop right there, citizeness.Copy !req
28. You're out very late, are you not?Copy !req
29. I have a room at the inn.Copy !req
30. At Mont-Marat, citizens.Copy !req
31. What do you have in that sack?Copy !req
32. Food, perhaps?Copy !req
33. I assure you, there is nothing
in this sack that would interest you.Copy !req
34. We will decide that.Copy !req
35. Open it.Copy !req
36. There, my gallants.Copy !req
37. Satisfied?Copy !req
38. - Vile thing.
- Whose head is that?Copy !req
39. This aristo swine violated
my little sister.Copy !req
40. When I heard he was being brought
to the Committee of Public Safety,Copy !req
41. I persuaded the executioner
to give me his head.Copy !req
42. Which I will take back to my village,
and I will show to my poor mother,Copy !req
43. and she will spit on his face like this.Copy !req
44. - Let her be. She's a madwoman.
- Let her be?Copy !req
45. Your eyes are
as dull as your wits, Michel.Copy !req
46. Come here, good citizeness.Copy !req
47. I wish to inspect your head more closely.Copy !req
48. A thousand thanks, girl.Copy !req
49. This will buy many ham-hocks,
many cabbages, and many bottles of wine.Copy !req
50. Guillaume,
why do I ever doubt you?Copy !req
51. Because, my friend,Copy !req
52. you have nothing between your ears
but feathers and chicken droppings. Come.Copy !req
53. - I am sorry.
- It couldn't be helped.Copy !req
54. The earring will bring him
nothing but misery.Copy !req
55. And eventually, it'll come back to me.Copy !req
56. It's been stolen before.Copy !req
57. And your ear?Copy !req
58. Do you mean, will it grow back?Copy !req
59. Alas, no.Copy !req
60. Or the rest of me
would have done so long ago.Copy !req
61. In which case...Copy !req
62. this might hurt.Copy !req
63. My injuries would've been more severeCopy !req
64. had it not been
for your extremely convincing performance.Copy !req
65. I admired yours as well.Copy !req
66. Playing dead is easy.Copy !req
67. It's actually dying
I can't seem to manage.Copy !req
68. We should both be so lucky.Copy !req
69. No, I wouldn't wish that upon you.Copy !req
70. Whoever you are.Copy !req
71. I am Lady Johanna Constantine.Copy !req
72. And I am at your service.Copy !req
73. An aristocrat?Copy !req
74. In the people's France?Copy !req
75. As long as I can escape
Robespierre's guillotine.Copy !req
76. I'll be of no use there.Copy !req
77. It was Robespierre himself who decided
I was a threat to the people of FranceCopy !req
78. and had his men lock me
in the crypt in which you found me.Copy !req
79. You don't look that dangerous to me.Copy !req
80. You haven't heard me sing.Copy !req
81. Dancing is out of the question.Copy !req
82. May I ask you...Copy !req
83. what is it you intend to do with me?Copy !req
84. I intend to take you home.Copy !req
85. To your home?Copy !req
86. To the island from which you were stolen,Copy !req
87. which I hope will be much better guarded
from now on.Copy !req
88. You know about the island?Copy !req
89. Aye.Copy !req
90. Master Orpheus.Copy !req
91. Did the priests send you?Copy !req
92. Did my father?Copy !req
93. I am not at liberty to say.Copy !req
94. How is he?Copy !req
95. Did... did he seem all right?Copy !req
96. At the moment, sir, my concern is for us.Copy !req
97. The soldiers will have told
their superiors by now.Copy !req
98. Word will be out
to look for a woman with a head.Copy !req
99. With two heads.Copy !req
100. The city gates
will not be open until morning.Copy !req
101. I wish they had not seen you.Copy !req
102. Well, they have, my lady.Copy !req
103. So, we better think fast,
or else we'll both be as good as lost.Copy !req
104. Well, they do say
two heads are better than one.Copy !req
105. Good morning, Captain. Officers.Copy !req
106. Check that.Copy !req
107. Open it.Copy !req
108. Where have you hidden it?Copy !req
109. I do not know what you are talking about.Copy !req
110. We know that you have
in your possession a stolen artifact,Copy !req
111. Citizeness Bonchance.Copy !req
112. Her name is not Bonchance, Captain.Copy !req
113. Good day, Citizen Robespierre.Copy !req
114. Your name is Johanna Constantine.Copy !req
115. You are in possession of something
which belongs to the people of France.Copy !req
116. An object of superstition and decadence.Copy !req
117. I want it back, Mademoiselle Constantine.Copy !req
118. And what would you do with the headCopy !req
119. if I were to tell you where it is?Copy !req
120. I would destroy it, utterly.Copy !req
121. And I will.Copy !req
122. We are remaking the world here.Copy !req
123. Creating an age of pure reason.Copy !req
124. So I will not have an imagined oracle
at large in my country.Copy !req
125. If anything threatens France,
it is my duty to destroy it.Copy !req
126. So I have seen.Copy !req
127. You will save France...Copy !req
128. if it means killing every child,
woman, and man in the country to do it.Copy !req
129. We will find the head, woman.Copy !req
130. And you will help us.Copy !req
131. You have tonight to think further on this.Copy !req
132. Or in the morning,Copy !req
133. the guillotine will still
your tongue forever.Copy !req
134. Take her away.Copy !req
135. Thus it was I found myself
immured in the palace of Luxembourg,Copy !req
136. where my death awaited me
at the edge of a weighted blade.Copy !req
137. You're having problems, I see.Copy !req
138. Putting it mildly,
don't you think?Copy !req
139. Will you help me?Copy !req
140. I may not be seen
to intervene in the matter.Copy !req
141. Then might I suggest
you give the matter some thought, sir?Copy !req
142. Your son's head is valuable to you.Copy !req
143. And I am rather attached to mine.
Hitherto we have been inseparable.Copy !req
144. Now it appears both heads might be lost.Copy !req
145. How is he?Copy !req
146. He asked me the same about you.Copy !req
147. - And you said nothing, of course.
- I didn't answer, of course.Copy !req
148. He says he wishes to die.Copy !req
149. He once said the same to me.Copy !req
150. I suppose I cannot blame him.Copy !req
151. After all he's suffered.Copy !req
152. But even in his current state, he is...Copy !req
153. He's more alive than anyone I've ever met.Copy !req
154. He jokes at his own expense. He's curious.Copy !req
155. He asks questions, and more remarkably,
he listens to the answers.Copy !req
156. He even offered to sing for me.Copy !req
157. Did he sing for you?Copy !req
158. He did not.Copy !req
159. At the time, the severed head and I were
trying not to draw attention to ourselves.Copy !req
160. Is he able to sing in the place
where you have hidden him?Copy !req
161. Yes.Copy !req
162. Although I don't think
he'll feel much like singing.Copy !req
163. He will if you ask him to.Copy !req
164. It came to me in a dream.Copy !req
165. It was so obvious.Copy !req
166. So blindingly obvious.Copy !req
167. Where do you hide a book? In a library.Copy !req
168. Where do you hide a flower? In a garden.Copy !req
169. Where do you hide a severed head?Copy !req
170. You tell me, Citizen Robespierre.Copy !req
171. You hide a severed head
amongst other severed heads.Copy !req
172. With the corpses that have not yet
made their journey to the lime pits.Copy !req
173. Now, Mademoiselle.Copy !req
174. Will you do me the courtesy
of introducing me to your friend?Copy !req
175. Citizen Robespierre,Copy !req
176. it is not too late.Copy !req
177. You can let me go.Copy !req
178. I will take what I came for,Copy !req
179. leave France, and...Copy !req
180. never bother you again.Copy !req
181. Neither you nor the head
will be leaving France, mademoiselle.Copy !req
182. In which case, remember this...Copy !req
183. I offered you one final chance.Copy !req
184. Your attempts
to threaten us are laughable.Copy !req
185. Bring me the head.Copy !req
186. This is the head of Orpheus,Copy !req
187. whose song was powerful enough to sway
even the hearts of Hades and Persephone.Copy !req
188. Do you take us for peasants, Johanna?Copy !req
189. The myths are dead.Copy !req
190. The gods are dead.Copy !req
191. There is only the State and the people.Copy !req
192. No, Citizen Robespierre.Copy !req
193. There is much more than that.Copy !req
194. Enough! Bring me the head!Copy !req
195. Now, Messiah Orpheus, sing to them.Copy !req
196. He sang of freedom, of liberty.Copy !req
197. A song so powerful
that even the dead joined him to sing it.Copy !req
198. A song which cast a spell
upon the listener,Copy !req
199. such that Robespierre and his men
stood and listened like statues.Copy !req
200. It is my belief that Orpheus's songCopy !req
201. was sung and heard
throughout all of France.Copy !req
202. For the next day,Copy !req
203. Robespierre's reign of terror
was cut short...Copy !req
204. by the fall of the weighted blade.Copy !req
205. The Dream King's instructionsCopy !req
206. took us to a small,
uncharted island off the coast of Greece.Copy !req
207. We climbed to the island's summit.Copy !req
208. Where the sacred Temple of Orpheus,Copy !req
209. and the priests who guarded it,Copy !req
210. were hidden from the world
beneath a bank of clouds.Copy !req
211. Feels oddCopy !req
212. just leaving you here.Copy !req
213. You sure it's all right?Copy !req
214. The priests will take care of me.Copy !req
215. I was on this island
for centuries before I was stolen.Copy !req
216. Centuries?Copy !req
217. Just you and the priests?Copy !req
218. My mother comes by
from time to time to visit.Copy !req
219. That's nice.Copy !req
220. Do you think my father
might come by to visit?Copy !req
221. I'm sure I couldn't say.Copy !req
222. He must care for me though,
don't you think?Copy !req
223. Or he wouldn't have sent you to rescue me?Copy !req
224. There is a logic in what you say.Copy !req
225. I trust that he will repay you adequately
for your time and trouble in assisting me.Copy !req
226. They say virtue is its own reward.Copy !req
227. But then I wouldn't know
anything about that.Copy !req
228. I wish there was something
I could give you to... thank you properly.Copy !req
229. I...Copy !req
230. travel widely.Copy !req
231. Perhaps in a year or so I could return.Copy !req
232. See you again.Copy !req
233. What do you think?Copy !req
234. I do not think
that would be a good idea, Johanna.Copy !req
235. I'm sure you're right.Copy !req
236. When you see my father,
will... will you tell him I miss him?Copy !req
237. I haven't seen him for so long.Copy !req
238. Not even in your dreams?Copy !req
239. Not even in my dreams.Copy !req
240. Will you visit him?Copy !req
241. That is none of your concern.Copy !req
242. He misses you.Copy !req
243. There is still the matter
of your fee to be discussed.Copy !req
244. Anything that is
within your power to give me.Copy !req
245. What is it you want?Copy !req
246. Perhaps a bit more time with Orpheus.Copy !req
247. So this is it?
Where Orpheus lives?Copy !req
248. Along with the priests
that attend him.Copy !req
249. Dream!Copy !req
250. Have you ever spent days and days and daysCopy !req
251. making up flavors of ice cream
no one's ever eaten before?Copy !req
252. Like chicken and telephone ice cream.Copy !req
253. My sister...Copy !req
254. Green mouse ice cream was the worst.
I didn't like that at all.Copy !req
255. I get things wrong sometimes.
Lots of times.Copy !req
256. Like this whole thing was me
getting it all completely wrong.Copy !req
257. - That's not true.
- It is.Copy !req
258. What if things didn't get bad
when Destruction left?Copy !req
259. What if Destruction left
because things were bad?Copy !req
260. We will ask him.Copy !req
261. I don't want to.Copy !req
262. I only wanted to because I missed him.Copy !req
263. But I don't miss him
when I'm not by myself.Copy !req
264. If you spill family blood, you'll bring
the Kindly Ones down on your head.Copy !req
265. And I'll be all alone again.Copy !req
266. - So can we please just go?
- Hey! You two!Copy !req
267. How did you get up here?Copy !req
268. We walked the path.Copy !req
269. There is no path that leads here.Copy !req
270. There are many paths that lead here.Copy !req
271. I have been avoiding all of them
for some small while now,Copy !req
272. but I must speak with my son.Copy !req
273. Your son?Copy !req
274. Are you Apollo?Copy !req
275. I am your charge's father.Copy !req
276. Hello, Orpheus.Copy !req
277. Hello, Father.Copy !req
278. You look...Copy !req
279. just like yourself.Copy !req
280. You needn't describe what I look like.Copy !req
281. You look like my son.Copy !req
282. Father, I am so sorry.Copy !req
283. Mm.Copy !req
284. It is I who am sorry.Copy !req
285. No. You were trying to protect me.
I know that now.Copy !req
286. I abandoned you.Copy !req
287. You never abandoned me.Copy !req
288. You sent AndrosCopy !req
289. and his fatherCopy !req
290. and his father's fatherCopy !req
291. to look after me.Copy !req
292. You sent Johanna Constantine.Copy !req
293. And you're here with me now.Copy !req
294. I am not worthy of you, my son.Copy !req
295. Why would you say that?
What's happened?Copy !req
296. When last we saw one another,
you said we would never meet again.Copy !req
297. So something must have happened.Copy !req
298. Many things.Copy !req
299. Where even to begin?Copy !req
300. Why not the beginning?Copy !req
301. I have nowhere to go.Copy !req
302. Do you?Copy !req
303. Are they eating your ice cream?Copy !req
304. Well, they did seem hungry.Copy !req
305. Don't worry.
I let them pick their own flavors.Copy !req
306. Did you talk to him?Copy !req
307. I did.Copy !req
308. Did he tell you where our brother is?Copy !req
309. Yes.Copy !req
310. Did it cost you anything?Copy !req
311. I owe my son a boon.Copy !req
312. Is it a long way to our brother's?Copy !req
313. No.Copy !req
314. Not far.Copy !req
315. Wait for me!Copy !req
316. A change of scenery, my lord?Copy !req
317. Thank you, Andros.Copy !req
318. Destruction lives next door?Copy !req
319. Seems our brother chose to liveCopy !req
320. in the one place
he knew I would not dare to go.Copy !req
321. Well, he doesn't know you
very well, then.Copy !req
322. A doggy!Copy !req
323. Hello, doggy.Copy !req
324. Hello.Copy !req
325. You are a very lovely doggy, aren't you?Copy !req
326. Yes, you are.Copy !req
327. I think doggies mostly always
are the best people, don't you?Copy !req
328. Sir.Copy !req
329. Sir.Copy !req
330. Hello, lass.Copy !req
331. Let me take a look at you.Copy !req
332. Ah, as pretty as you ever were,
by my troth.Copy !req
333. And yes, I do believe you've grown.Copy !req
334. Maybe.Copy !req
335. And you, my brother.Copy !req
336. You also seem different.Copy !req
337. Perhaps you too have grown.Copy !req
338. Stranger things have happened.Copy !req
339. Shall we go inside?Copy !req
340. I've made dinner.Copy !req
341. Dinner!Copy !req
342. Take a seat.Copy !req
343. And help yourselves.Copy !req
344. You were expecting us.Copy !req
345. I'm afraid so.Copy !req
346. Try the meatballs.
I'm pleased with the way they turned out.Copy !req
347. Retsina, anybody?Copy !req
348. - Have some salad at least, Dream.
- I did not come seeking food.Copy !req
349. No, you came here seeking me.Copy !req
350. It was me that thought of it.Copy !req
351. Not Dream.Copy !req
352. He was the only sibling
who would come with me to find you.Copy !req
353. It was me because I...Copy !req
354. I missed you.Copy !req
355. Very muchly.Copy !req
356. Then I remembered those words
coming out of your mouthCopy !req
357. when you told us you were leaving.Copy !req
358. How we shouldn't follow you
or ask where you think you're going.Copy !req
359. Which I didn't.Copy !req
360. But then all of a sudden,
you weren't there anymore.Copy !req
361. You were gone.Copy !req
362. And I didn't know why.Copy !req
363. You never really told me why you left.Copy !req
364. Or maybe you did, but I didn't understand.Copy !req
365. Or I wasn't being a very good listener.Copy !req
366. But it was such a long time ago,
I thought,Copy !req
367. "What if he's changed his mind?"Copy !req
368. "And if he has,
then how would I even know?"Copy !req
369. So I thought if I could find you,
then I would ask you.Copy !req
370. And even better than knowing whyCopy !req
371. would be not having to miss you anymore.Copy !req
372. Because you'd be here.Copy !req
373. Which you are. So...Copy !req
374. It was me.Copy !req
375. Um...Copy !req
376. That's all.Copy !req
377. It is as she says.Copy !req
378. We've been searching
for you for some small time now.Copy !req
379. I see.Copy !req
380. How did you know we were coming?Copy !req
381. I set up certain... mechanisms when I left.Copy !req
382. I mean, nothing fancy.Copy !req
383. There's a scrying pool
in the shed out back.Copy !req
384. It lets me know
if people have been looking.Copy !req
385. These mechanisms...Copy !req
386. might they have harmed
those who helped us to find you?Copy !req
387. I'm afraid so.Copy !req
388. There was nothing I could do
once you started looking for me.Copy !req
389. Not without resuming
my function once more.Copy !req
390. But the people who died...Copy !req
391. some of them were your friends.Copy !req
392. One of them was once my lover.Copy !req
393. Ishtar.Copy !req
394. You never cared for her.Copy !req
395. You seem to care now.Copy !req
396. I care that you continue
to hurt those you claim to love.Copy !req
397. Who has not done that?Copy !req
398. I care that innocent people
have lost their livesCopy !req
399. simply because we were looking for you.Copy !req
400. It was not just that they should die.Copy !req
401. Three hundred years ago,Copy !req
402. you would have told me
that they were simply mortal.Copy !req
403. And would have died later
had they not died then.Copy !req
404. You've changed, Dream.Copy !req
405. I doubt that.Copy !req
406. I still perform my responsibilities,
after all.Copy !req
407. I don't.Copy !req
408. But you know that.Copy !req
409. And how do you justify that?Copy !req
410. Leaving us?Copy !req
411. Killing your friends?Copy !req
412. Abandoning your realm?Copy !req
413. For this?Copy !req
414. Well...Copy !req
415. If no one's eating,Copy !req
416. I suggest we go outside.Copy !req
417. It's a warm evening, after all.Copy !req
418. Will you return with us?Copy !req
419. No.Copy !req
420. Of course not.Copy !req
421. I'm sorry, lad.Copy !req
422. And what of your realm?Copy !req
423. I'm sure it's still there.Copy !req
424. People and things are still created,
still exist, they're still destroyed.Copy !req
425. Things still change.Copy !req
426. The only difference is
that no one's running it anymore.Copy !req
427. They can make their own destruction.Copy !req
428. It's not my responsibility.Copy !req
429. And it's not my fault.Copy !req
430. You know, I think I knew
that it was time to leave this place.Copy !req
431. Even before you started looking for me.Copy !req
432. Life was... comfortable.Copy !req
433. Unchanging.Copy !req
434. And you know what they say...Copy !req
435. You change or you die.Copy !req
436. Plus...Copy !req
437. can't have Mum and Dad
and the rest of the family turning up,Copy !req
438. guilting me into going back, can I?Copy !req
439. Not that I haven't loved seeing you both.Copy !req
440. Come on.Copy !req
441. You can help me pack.Copy !req
442. You retained your gallery.Copy !req
443. Don't even know why
I held onto it so long.Copy !req
444. Habit, I guess.Copy !req
445. Or sentiment.Copy !req
446. What will you do now?Copy !req
447. I will make the most
of whatever time I have left.Copy !req
448. I'll need to take the sword, of course.Copy !req
449. Can't have it
falling into the wrong hands.Copy !req
450. Why don't you stay in my realm?Copy !req
451. You can live with me and make me laugh,Copy !req
452. and I'll do little dances.Copy !req
453. You won't, will you?Copy !req
454. No.Copy !req
455. - But if you go, then I'll be alone again.
- That's not true, is it?Copy !req
456. You didn't come here on your own, did you?Copy !req
457. No, I came with...Copy !req
458. Oh.Copy !req
459. But Dream has his bird
and his librarian and his dragon thingy.Copy !req
460. - He gets very busy.
- Yeah, you're right.Copy !req
461. You've given me an idea.Copy !req
462. My friend,Copy !req
463. answer if you wish.Copy !req
464. Will you go with the Lady Delirium?Copy !req
465. Walk beside her?Copy !req
466. Tread the path that she treads also?Copy !req
467. Protect and lead and guide her?Copy !req
468. Can't I go with you?Copy !req
469. You would not survive
in the places I'm traveling to, friend.Copy !req
470. Oh. Um, I see.Copy !req
471. Well, she shouldn't be allowed out
off a leash,Copy !req
472. but, uh, I'll do what I can.Copy !req
473. My brother,Copy !req
474. when you leave here,
then where will you go?Copy !req
475. I have matters
left unresolved with my son.Copy !req
476. Yes, for thousands of years.Copy !req
477. Why now suddenly?Copy !req
478. We needed an oracle to find you.Copy !req
479. You went and...Copy !req
480. spoke to your sonCopy !req
481. because of me?Copy !req
482. Not just because of you.Copy !req
483. I suspect you have grown
more than you know.Copy !req
484. I regret there is...
nothing I can offer you, save this.Copy !req
485. My advice.Copy !req
486. Remember what I did.Copy !req
487. Remember that I left.Copy !req
488. Remember how hard it was for me to leave.Copy !req
489. But that I did it...Copy !req
490. out of love.Copy !req
491. Love?Copy !req
492. For humankind.Copy !req
493. For this world and...Copy !req
494. all others.Copy !req
495. And I know you think I'm weak...Copy !req
496. selfish for leaving, and...Copy !req
497. and maybe I am.Copy !req
498. But in my experience,Copy !req
499. love is the only good reason
to do anything.Copy !req
500. That's your advice?Copy !req
501. Indeed, it is.Copy !req
502. I like the stars.Copy !req
503. They give the illusion of permanence.Copy !req
504. I mean, they're always flaring up
and caving in and going out.Copy !req
505. Worlds end.Copy !req
506. Gods come and go.Copy !req
507. Mortals flicker and fade.Copy !req
508. From here...Copy !req
509. I can pretend things last.Copy !req
510. My brother,Copy !req
511. there is no one like you.Copy !req
512. My sister, I've loved seeing you.Copy !req
513. You were always my favorite.Copy !req
514. Be good.Copy !req
515. Look after her.Copy !req
516. I'll miss you.Copy !req
517. Oh yes.Copy !req
518. You'll miss the poetry readings,Copy !req
519. the paintings,
the late-night flamenco guitar recitals.Copy !req
520. That's right. Go on.
Try to make me feel better.Copy !req
521. Bye.Copy !req
522. Where will you go?Copy !req
523. Out there.Copy !req
524. Somewhere.Copy !req
525. Up and out.Copy !req
526. Remember what I said, Dream.Copy !req
527. Good luck.Copy !req
528. And you.Copy !req
529. I can't believe he's really going.Copy !req
530. He left 300 years ago.Copy !req
531. I thought he'd come back to us.Copy !req
532. I know.Copy !req
533. Hey, cheer up.Copy !req
534. I mean, life's too short.Copy !req
535. That's better.Copy !req
536. I'm sorry
we came all this way for nothing.Copy !req
537. It wasn't for nothing.Copy !req
538. We don't have to wonder anymore
why he left.Copy !req
539. Or if he's ever coming back.Copy !req
540. Plus, you got some advice,Copy !req
541. and I got a doggy.Copy !req
542. So, uh, now what?Copy !req
543. Um, I don't know.Copy !req
544. Dream?Copy !req
545. What next?Copy !req
546. Now I return to the temple.Copy !req
547. Oh.Copy !req
548. I forgot.Copy !req
549. I owe my son a boon.Copy !req
550. My son.Copy !req
551. Hello, Father.Copy !req
552. Thank you for coming back.Copy !req
553. I gave my word.Copy !req
554. How was my uncle?Copy !req
555. He was...Copy !req
556. I don't know.Copy !req
557. He has gone...Copy !req
558. from that place and from this world.Copy !req
559. So, much the same, I suppose.Copy !req
560. We do not always accomplish
what it is we set out to do.Copy !req
561. When looking for your brother,Copy !req
562. did you believe
that he would come back with youCopy !req
563. and return to his realm?Copy !req
564. I hoped he would, but I think
perhaps I knew he would not.Copy !req
565. Yet, you came hereCopy !req
566. to meCopy !req
567. anyway.Copy !req
568. You asked me where your brother was,
knowing what I would ask of you.Copy !req
569. You asked for a boon.Copy !req
570. And I am here to grant it.Copy !req
571. It's strange. For...Copy !req
572. many a thousand years,
I've prayed for death.Copy !req
573. Prayed to all the gods
for peace and relief.Copy !req
574. I prayed for an ending.Copy !req
575. I never thought
you'd be the one to grant it.Copy !req
576. Do you remember what you said to me?Copy !req
577. You said...Copy !req
578. "Your life is your own."Copy !req
579. "Your death, likewise."Copy !req
580. "Farewell."Copy !req
581. "We shall not meet again."Copy !req
582. Do you know why I said those things?Copy !req
583. Because I did and said
many things I now regret.Copy !req
584. It's because I was scared.Copy !req
585. I was scared
to live in a world without you in it.Copy !req
586. I should have died long ago.Copy !req
587. Perhaps.Copy !req
588. I wish I'd listened to you.Copy !req
589. And Aunt Teleute.Copy !req
590. I wish things had been otherwise.Copy !req
591. As do I.Copy !req
592. I am ready.Copy !req
593. My son...Copy !req
594. Our journey is at an end.Copy !req
595. All debts are paid.Copy !req
596. My sister...Copy !req
597. Barnabas...Copy !req
598. I will take my leave of you now.Copy !req
599. Dream, thank you for coming with me.Copy !req
600. I don't think
I could have done it all by myself.Copy !req
601. Come on, doggy.Copy !req
602. We're going to my place.Copy !req
603. It's very interesting,
and I think you'll like it.Copy !req
604. Unless maybe you don't.Copy !req
605. Lucienne.Copy !req
606. You're back.Copy !req
607. I am back.Copy !req
608. It is at an end.Copy !req
609. Are you all right?Copy !req
610. I shall be retiring to my quarters
for the rest of the day.Copy !req
611. I do not wish to be disturbed.Copy !req
612. Tomorrow, I shall resume my duties.Copy !req
613. I've neglected them long enough.Copy !req
614. Can I...Copy !req
615. help in any way?Copy !req
616. Yes.Copy !req
617. Some time ago, I created
a priesthood to tend to my son.Copy !req
618. To guard him from harm.Copy !req
619. Their responsibilities are now at an end.Copy !req
620. I only have one last thing to ask of them.Copy !req
621. And that is to bury him.Copy !req
622. Safely.Copy !req
623. And to leave no marker.Copy !req
624. When this is done,
they may remain in the temple or do...Copy !req
625. whatever it is they may please.Copy !req
626. Of course, my lord.Copy !req
627. The rest can...Copy !req
628. wait.Copy !req
629. Is it ready yet?Copy !req
630. Nearly there.Copy !req
631. There we go.Copy !req
632. That's my darling girl.Copy !req
633. Who's ready for tea?Copy !req
634. Still going with that scarf, are you?Copy !req
635. I confess I rather like this one.Copy !req
636. It is a fine yarn.Copy !req
637. And I don't doubt that it'll suit.Copy !req
638. Go with anything, this will.Copy !req
639. - Who wants what with their tea, then?
- I'll have a ginger snap, please.Copy !req
640. I'll take a fortune cookie,
I think, my petal.Copy !req
641. Read me the fortune, will you, Poppet?Copy !req
642. I do love to hear fortunes.Copy !req
643. "A king will forsake his kingdom."Copy !req
644. "Life and death will clash and fray."Copy !req
645. "The oldest battle begins once more."Copy !req
646. We've had this one before, haven't we?Copy !req
647. It's definitely familiar, deary.Copy !req
648. Right.Copy !req
649. I think that's gone on long enough.Copy !req
650. Do you think so?Copy !req
651. I thought maybe
it could be a little longer.Copy !req
652. Well, you're too soft.Copy !req
653. Much too soft, both of you.Copy !req
654. The Dream King killed his son.Copy !req
655. The boy asked him to.Copy !req
656. He spilt family blood.Copy !req
657. All good things, eh?Copy !req
658. Got to finish sometime.Copy !req