I will tell her the truth as I see it. I will tell her that her beauty entrances me, as it surely does.’ ‘And so she wonders at your sanity.’ ‘To begin with,’ the Azathanai said, belching and nodding. Then he raised a finger. ‘Until, at last, my words deliver to her the greatest gift I can hope to give her – that she comes to believe in her own beauty.’ ‘What happens then? Seduced, swallowed in your embrace, another mysterious maiden conquered?’ The huge Azathanai waved a hand. ‘Why, no. She leaves me, of course. Knowing she can do much better.’
