Sanguine took a long drink from his glass after a good deep smell. He had to admit, the flavor was much more textured and complex now that it had been allowed to breathe within the carafe. He let the fluid spread over his palate and coat each part of his tongue before he swallowed. He thought back to his youth, when he was always fighting for his life. The younger boys whose skulls he'd crushed against rocks, just so that he could eat the other's meal. He'd come a long way indeed.<br/><br/>The wine did well to calm San, as the Aserit Prince and Theiri Princess talked of games and sparring. As scandalous as it may have been for Lenally, San thought it infinitely more ridiculous for accomplished soldiers like Henrik and Juli to play-fight with toy swords. What purpose could that serve?<br/><br/>Swordplay had never been a game to Sanguine, neither had war.<br/><br/>Eyes wasn't playing either. Though the wolf allowed Lenally to continue petting and scratching her, every hair on her back was standing up straight and her ears were pinned flat to her head. Eyes knew Zyel to be a Gypsy by the color of his skin, and had learned to mistrust them the same way as San.<br/><br/>"Of course, Prince Henrik. I meant him no harm, it's just my instincts..." San trailed off, aiming his sightless eyes up at the ceiling. "Perhaps I've fallen into too many Gypsy traps in my life. For a moment, I actually imagined archers might be firing down at us from the floor above."<br/><br/>Sanguine forced a short laugh before raising his glass.<br/><br/>"I propose a toast, if I may." San announced to the Prince and Princess, raising his glass. "To the brave departed, from all kingdoms and classes. Those who stared their death in the eye and never blinked. Those guileless heroes who lived in our hearts and died in our arms. The one's whose memory we carry, and honor by surviving to meet another dawn."<br/><br/>As he drank again from his glass, Sanguine remembered childhood friends who had died young men. Others that he barely knew, but had killed himself. Then he thought of his parents, whoever, wherever they were...<br/><br/>The wine managed to wash the lump from his throat.