‘And your friends? Do you refuse them also?’ ‘I cannot watch you die again, Vintar.’ ‘Why not? I myself have seen the scene a hundred times. I have even written a poem about it.’ ‘As we are now – shall we be again, after death? Free souls?’ ‘I do not know, but I would have it so. Now return to your duty. I have pulsed The Thirty. They will keep your body alive for as long as they can.’ ‘They always have. Why should I be the last to die?’ ‘Because we would have it so. We love you, Serbitar. And always have. A shy child you were, who had never tasted friendship. Suspicious you were, of the
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