There it is again: someone who's good wouldn't want that. And it's hard, again -- maybe harder, this time -- not to take that personally. To remember that her own Kusheline blood, and the exchanges of power that friends of hers have entered in love and free will, are worlds away from what Andrew means.

(But are they? Can you love mastery, as Kushiel did, and still be good? Or is she fooling herself, as Henri said? Is she just another Shahrizai, a Lucifer-in-waiting, who can't be satisfied without holding another's will in her palm?

Wouldn't this all be easier if she submitted to what Andrew so clearly wants, and told him what to do?)

It takes her a moment to bring herself back, to focus on the question at hand. She's here for a patron, not for herself.

"I'd like to suggest something, if I may. Something to try. If it doesn't help, we can always try something else."