Nasir gestured to his neck. His fingers traced where the line had once been around his throat. "Collar once bound neck since I was child. I knew nothing else. I begged and bowed for my dominus, served him in all his needs, and believed self important. I clung to illusion and will never embrace it again.

"I have purpose. I have forged my path with own hands. I remember what I was and I will not return to it." No matter what they forced him to do now, he would never become Tiberius again.

"You had freedom, Guy Crood. Do not forget it. If you forget, it will destroy you as it did me."