ONE

There were times Pericles would have happily killed his father, if not for the fact that regicide involved so much paperwork. This was one of those times. Here he was, waiting to be “announced” outside the great hall of the infamously fearsome warlord Antochus, and he couldn’t even enjoy it. And being “announced” was one of his favorite things about being royal. If one were to ask anyone in his retinue, they would all say being announced was his third favorite th. . .

ONE

There were times Pericles would have happily killed his father, if not for the fact that regicide involved so much paperwork. This was one of those times. Here he was, waiting to be “announced” outside the great hall of the infamously fearsome warlord Antochus, and he couldn’t even enjoy it. And being “announced” was one of his favorite things about being royal. If one were to ask anyone in his retinue, they would all say being announced was his third favorite th. . .

I went dancing with my wife the night she died.

My wife, my daughter, and my best friend; they’d all been with me that night in the main ballroom of my luxury liner, the Kyritan.

That ship wasn’t supposed to have been their coffin, but since it had been theirs it ought to have been mine as well.

I’ve got any number of pictures of my wife Biann—a chemical contact-print portrait made by an old uncle who dabbled in the art; a drawing in happy, shaky lines my daughter made when s. . .