"Like dancing dogs. Put them in the fashions of the day, play a tune, show them off- But that's to be expected, I suppose. There are rumors of men who demand more, but the Signless - a mentor who works more closely with Sponsors than I do - hasn't ever mentioned hearing anything more than rumor. Nothing more than what you might expect, ordering tributes to behave a certain way, set out on a romance with this or that person, say this thing to that newsman, on the promise that a disobedient tribute is a boring one." Which, in a land where tributes are prized for their ability to keep a crowd fascinated, is one of the deepest threats there is, at least as Roland understands things.

"It sounds as if you know already that those who've made their offer to you aren't making it out of the kindness in their hearts, if they could find any there in the first place. Yet you feel - obligated to them, I think you said? Why?"