INTERLUDE
Have you felt the hour growing late? Here we must pause for the day.
I do not sleep; I seldom eat. But you are more mortal than I, and I would not deny you the rest and sustenance that your always-aging body demands.
The story of Saphienne is told day or night, depending only on when each traveller crosses the vale to arrive at this grotto. I turn no one away. Should no new listener come within the hour, I am willing to continue, if your need is great enough.
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Or perhaps you have had heard all you care for? The hoard yet awaits you. Surely there is something spread at your feet that is of greater worth than an ending?
But as you decide how to proceed, I shall leave you with a confession. I have told this story as fully and best as I know how — but just as Gaeleath taught Saphienne, all that is true depends upon a lie.
Yes: I have deliberatelytold you a lie. One lie, in fact. A very important lie. When I finish telling you The Fires of Her Ambition, you will know what it was.
Ah, but can you guess before then?
One possibility I will rule out: the lie is not in either title of her story.
I only wish that were so…