Rance Barron had been a great hero, but his stature had also benefitted from a tragic death in battle, followed by decades of retellings of his exploits by worshipful protégés. Such things whitewashed a man’s memory, Holsten knew, carrying away flaws, deficiencies, all the things that made a human being real. Barron had been a great man, there was no question about that, but when he lived he was a man. Now he was a legend.
