i want your full attention, starling

Let them join us.

The Ostrega had posed a difficult question, and perhaps Lecter should not have forged ahead so quickly, but he was wearied by all of it. The Beta also could not conceive of quarantining Ouroboros, closing it off to potential strong bodies; it was only his beloved who had been affected by the dire malady.

We will prosper in spite of it, he muttered, perhaps more to himself than to Mordecai, and shifted his position against the stone. There were many days that he wished to be dead, and today, despite its beauty, was no exception. Icewater eyes closed to half-mast and Lecter turned back toward the sunrise that had blossomed fully into morningtide, if only to veil the tears that stung the corners of his gaze suddenly. Blathering, emotional old fool! he berated himself, jaw tensing; the shaman had not wept so much in the entirety of his life as he had over the past several weeks.