‘Perhaps that will be my revenge.’ Was that a little of the old sparkle in his eye?

‘You monster!’

‘Yes. But I was your monster, Pari, and I could be again.’

Suns scorch me, but I still want this man.

‘Though to be honest, your body is a bit young for my tastes. Maybe come back in a few years?’

She laughed.

‘Best be careful Nidra doesn’t hear you. She hates joy, especially in other people.’

The laugh died on her lips, his mention of Nidra’s name bringing back all of his misdeeds in brutal clarity. ‘If you want to explain, this is your last chance. I’m not coming back.’

‘I’m not sure you’ll understand.’

She folded her arms. ‘Now I know you’re trying to bait me.’

‘I’m not doubting your intelligence, I’m doubting your life experience.’

‘I have several lifecycles over you, Rochant.’

‘Yes, but all of them the same. You were sky-born from the start, bred to enjoy eternity. It is what you are. I was road-born. I’ve seen what life is like down there. Not from the air, nor looking down from a pair of Sky-legs. In the dirt, in the cold, a stone’s throw from death. When you come down here, you come as a visitor, protected by title or armour. It’s not like that for the rest of us. We have to live with the threat of the Wild every single day. Can you imagine what it’s like?’

‘Not really, no.’

His neck flexed as if he was trying to nod, but the strap across his forehead prohibited the movement. ‘Exactly. I did what I did to escape that.’

She looked into his eyes and nodded to herself. ‘Thank you, Rochant. A bit of me has always wondered if I had made the right decision. Despite your betrayal, I couldn’t help but cling to the memories of our time together. And now you’ve shown that beneath your bravado and brilliance, you are actually quite a shallow, desperate little creature. Had I not such a weakness for wit and perfectly shaped bottoms, I suspect I would have seen through you long ago.

‘You see, while I may find it hard to see life as a Road-born does, and while I have always been Deathless, I still hold life sacred. A true Deathless sacrifices their vessel again and again for road-born and sky-born alike, because unlike them, we can return. My immortality is given gladly in service to my people, precisely because their one life is so precious. Whereas you, for all your supposed empathy, were quite happy to sacrifice this entire settlement for personal gain.