“Yes,” said Danny. “Except … I think it’s wrong to call the Sutahites ‘free prets.’ Because that suggests the others, the ones that are already in our ba, or in our bodies, or in the natural universe—that they aren’t free.”

“They’re bound. Bond and free—always treated as opposites,” said Pat.

“But that’s about slavery. About people, not prets. Look, a pret that’s part of the natural universe—a blade of grass. Part of a rock. Those prets have a place, they have a job. They’re something. The Sutahites aren’t part of anything. As far as the universe is concerned, they’re nothing. Utterly powerless to act.”

“It’s not like a pret that’s part of a rock is particularly powerful,” said Pat.

“Yes, it is,” said Danny. “It has work to do. When gravity calls, and nothing blocks it, it rushes toward the center of the Earth. Joined with all the other prets in the rock. They move together. Somebody throws the rock, it hits a jackal, and the prets of the rock all interact with the prets of the jackal’s skin and skull and brain according to the rules. Together, the prets of that rock can be powerful. They can kill a jackal.”

“If somebody throws the rock,” said Pat.

“Right. And the prets in my ba can become gates, taking people from one place to another, from one world to another—but somebody has to make them into a gate. Me. They only do it when I command it. The way my hand only touches yours when I want it to.” He demonstrated.

She kissed his hand.

“So you’re thinking, they’d rather be a part of your ba than continue to be unattached. And that will make them nice.”

“The only thing like a bond that gave them any purpose in life was obeying Set. Were they evil? I don’t think so. Maybe they were, but what would the second most evil pret in Duat have done when Set was expelled? Does he follow Set into exile? Or does he figure, OK, Set just proved that rebellion doesn’t work. So I’ll play along, I’ll be born, I’ll have a body, I’ll have whatever powers come with it. Maybe the second most evil was, like, Hitler. Or Stalin. Or Tamerlane. Or just some hideous child-abusing mother or father. But all the strong, ambitious, fearless ones like Set—they wouldn’t follow him. They’d come to Mittlegard and get themselves born.”

“So the Sutahites aren’t ambitious enough to be evil—”