"Yes." He has come to steadiness at last, and though his eyes are still red from tears, he holds the Ninth's gaze unwaveringly. "Let the self judge the right and the wrongs. Let others decide to praise or to blame."

It feels like -- it was, he realizes with bleak humor -- a lifetime ago when he last spoke those words.

"I do not know what she will say, or do. But she has stood at your side through terrible trials at your Canaan House. She has put her trust in you, and you her. That is not nothing."