“Close your eyes,” I told the prince. “And deprive myself of the only source of delight in my life at this moment? Not likely.” He meant it as a wry, defiant statement, but it touched something inside me and made me pity him more. This fallen prince, whatever he had once been, seemed miserable—emotionally as well as physically reduced. I knew first-hand how it felt to be overlooked, disappointed, treated as a commodity.
