Nasir smiled but it turned grim suddenly.

"I would have lived beyond the alps, tilling land, herding a flock, or hunting. I would have lived with the one who holds my heart." He thought that would be his future, as he had traveled in his tent. For the first time he could envision the days to come, those without blood.

Nasir's gaze hardened and jaw tightened. "The Fates have not deemed that I should live so."