Lack of movement is a formidable force to overcome.

Noblest. Bravest. What rot. There was no bravery in buying oneself out of difficulty.

There are some for whom the good of mankind is their primary concern, and others who basically put their own considerations before everyone else. I was among the latter.

Once again I felt light-headed, but this time it wasn't from the scent of lilacs; it was from the scent of my own death.

Some time later, I sat in the wine cellar, staring at the walls while cradling a wineskin in my lap like a child, murmuring over and over as if lulling the child to sleep, 'I am shat upon. I am shat upon'.