“There is a significant difference between a minor mishap, and this pathetic mess you refuse to take the responsibility for. You can either offer me an explanation for the long lasting predicament we now find ourselves in, or you can disassociate yourself from all that you hold dear, and leave, never to return,” Cassandra says as her face falls from the agitated leader of a slowly unwinding civilisation, to that of the ever stoic mother, condemning another of her children.

Lucius swallows a dry, painful mouthful of air, quickly searching all the eyes that fall upon him for a sign.