“I would assume that’s not common, though.”
“No.” Should he tell her more, speak of the greatest reason why his people were no strangers to death? He found he did not wish to keep secrets from her. “Far more common are those who weary of unending life and wish to move on to the next world. They choose the path of the aljar al-nawim.”
“The what?”
“In your tongue, it means ‘the draught of the dark sleep.’ A subtle poison that brings a calm and painless death.”
Shock registered in her eyes, the candle flames shimmering against the darkness of her pupils. “They commit suicide?”
“It does not have quite the same negative connotations as the act does in your world. For those who feel they have nothing left to feel or experience, it is the better path, rather than to remain here and simply…en
