I think about the way King Etristo and his family treated me at dinner my first night here.
“Some people enjoy reveling in the misery of others,” I agree.
“Most people, I’ve found. It seems to be a human trait.” He hesitates for a moment. “We’ve removed the stitches, so she can speak again,” he says. “But it’s been so long since she has that it can be difficult to understand her at times. And she’s still a little—” He breaks off, shaking his head.
“Ten years under the Kaiser’s thumb was a nightmare I can’t fully describe to anyone,” I say. “I can’t imagine how she managed twenty.”
Hoa is waiting in my room when I open the door. She’s perched delicately on the edge of a chair by the empty mosaic fireplace that I imagine is purely ornamental, her back ramrod straight and her hands folded
