Carse wondered which he would do first—go mad or fling himself from the balcony into the sea.
Boghaz clung closer to him than ever. He seemed fascinated by the thing that lurked in Carse. He was awed too but not too much awed to be furious over the disposal of the Tomb.
“I told you to let me bargain for it!” he would say. “The greatest source of power on Mars and you give it away! Give it without even exacting a promise that they won’t kill you when they get it.”
His fat hands made a gesture of finality. “I repeat, you have robbed me, Carse. Robbed me of my kingdom.”
And Carse, for once, was glad of the Valkisian’s effrontery because it kept him from being alone. Boghaz would sit, drinking enormous quantities of wine, and every so often he would look at Carse and chuckle.
“People always said that I had a devil in me. But you, Carse—you have the devil in you!”
“ Let me speak, Carse, and I will make you understand!”
Carse grew gaunt and hollow-eyed. His face twitched and his hands were unsteady.
Then the news came, brought by a winged man who flew exhausted into Khondor.
It was Emer who told Carse what had happened. She did not really need to. The moment he saw her face, white as death, he knew.