“Death this very night!” he said quietly.

She laughed outright, in sheer fright.

“Tonight? No, no! Who says so? Why should I die? Answer me! Speak! What means this vile mockery?”

“You are condemned.”

“By whom?”

“By your destiny.”

“How know you that?”

“Because my destiny is interwoven with yours, Touni.”

“Is it my fate to die now?”

“It is your lot to die by my hand, on that bench.”