Once Villiam caught his breath, he thanked the nun, promised her fine hospitality as long as she cared to stay, and then went on eating, a bit more carefully this time, engaging the priest in a long discussion of hell, its landscape, its economy, what kind of house the Devil lived in, how he managed his servants, and how he had escaped into the realm of Earth. And then he asked, as though he might be serious, ‘How long will God keep heaven’s gate closed? Hypothetically speaking.’ Then he chuckled. And then he frowned. ‘Honestly, Father, how much longer until the heat backs down?’
The section is moving about dramatically. You have the king choking on food, personifying the tension in the reader because you don’t know who is noticing the relationship first, marek or his mother. The anticipation is killer.
