Cecil stared at him.
Gabriel lifted a brow. "Well?"
"That is not a real option."
"No," Gabriel agreed. "It is an educational fantasy."
Cecil leaned back in the chair with the expression of a man deeply insulted by the fact that his family kept offering him technically available paths to death and calling it advice. "He is a reborn warlord."
"Yes."
"He is only partially Arik on his more merciful days."
"Yes."
"And he is still somehow afraid of you being angry with him."
Gabriel's mouth moved at one corner. "That part is healthy."
"That part is insane."
"That part," Gabriel said, "suggests his instincts continue to function despite everything else."
Cecil exhaled through his nose.
