‘but I spent two years in the Emperor’s prisons. I daresay, if I had known I’d be there half that long at the start, I would have made a more concerted effort to kill myself. Seven hundred days, give or take, in the darkness. As close to hell, I would have thought, as a living man can go. My point is this – if you mean to upset me you’ll need more than harsh language.’
Glokta’s pain always sits just beneath the surface, but this moment lays it bare. It’s not just trauma — it’s endurance, it’s survival. And the fact he jokes? That’s heartbreak in disguise.
