Blood Money‘And so it ends. If our playing has pleased you, a token. For we are not wealthy like the duke. We are mere players, who sometimes have empty bellies, though our hearts are full.’
A cheer erupted. Mina removed her mask and looked out over the audience. Their upturned faces, calm and content, glowed in the afternoon sunlight. She realised her final words had been necessary to bring the audience back to the present. The tale had to be ended so their own tales, the stories of their own lives, might begin again.
Aldo took her hand and helped her onto the stage where they joined Ciro, Isabella and Jal in a line. Ciro took her other hand with his cold grasp. As the crowd roared, the players bowed. Mina smiled, enjoying the applause. These people had been changed, somehow, by their p
