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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ajanders" data-source="post: 2725392" data-attributes="member: 3271">Under Pressure...He looks at Rosalynn for a long moment."That made it kind of obvious what I had to do."Michael blushes a little and coughs."And I started to do it."He catches her hand in both of his own."But there was a price to pay, and there is a price to pay, and there always will be a price to pay."He takes a deep breath and squeezes her hand tightly."I have left my home, my friends, and my family."He squeezes the hand more tightly, driving her nails into his palm."I have left the graves of my kin, the home of my birth, the way of my life."Rosalynn's hand is going white, bloodless, and numb."My master said it true: One watches things that make one sick."Michael locks flinty eyes with Rosalynn and squeezes harder, until a thread of pain seeps through the numbness."This is the Law: no gain without a loss, and!"Suddenly the pressure is gone, and Michael looks ashamed as he releases her hand."Well, that's the law, anyway, and the truth."He holds his hands up softly: where he was squeezing her nails into his palms should be blood and strips of flesh, but the calluses are so thick there is not even a dimple to mark them.Michael quietly wipes a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth."If you ask seriously, I think you will be granted.  But I do not know."He wipes away the trickle again."And if you are granted, your life will never be the same again.  Be very sure you are ready."He wipes away the trickle again and this time holds a hankerchief against his jaw."Think for a night and a day before we speak of this again.  If you still wish to ask, we will go back to the Big Sky country and the town of Black Rock, where my master Hanno dwells.There you may ask, and if you are granted, you will have a better teacher than I."Michael stands slowly, and offers Rosalynn his hand to go, not able to meet her eyes.After a moment, he hesitantly crooks his arm instead, as if taking her into a dance." I will walk you back to the carriage, if you like."</blockquote>

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