The Vastalimi Gambit

He understood the phenomenon, of how almost dying made you appreciate what life had to offer. And it was a potent drug, that feeling. Battle was not glorious. But surviving it? That was.

“The rules are different for rich men,” he said. “Always have been.”

Death came for all, and it was never a matter of “if,” only “when.”

“We aren’t looking for trouble.”

“Doesn’t mean you won’t find it.”

Well. You were allowed to be young and stupid, when you were young and stupid, and if it didn’t do you in, you might get older and wiser.

Desire, she realized, was a thick fog that could completely obscure reality.

The good old days always seemed better in distant memory than they had actually been at the time.

But was it not you who used to tell me that the more you knew, the better? That knowledge was the sharpest fang?