Ilarion leaned forward abruptly, his eyes blazing coldly like fire in opal.
"I think he doesn't have to handle it," he said. "Because I made sure of it."
He was galled by the Ukrainian's presumption, and had to remind himself that he had granted this man a place in the Ministry on his brother's behalf.
"Soon after Andrei was born, I already knew what my course of action would be. Masha's birth only reinforced my determination."
He felt his blood steel in his veins, the frost that settled on his skin. And ordinary man might crack from being frozen, but not a man who had made his peace with becoming ice.
"I threw myself upon the bonfire of my Father's legacy for a reason. I didn't swallow this bitter pill for nothing."
His voice became low and menacing.
"I didn't sacrifice my own life on the Ministry altar only to have my brother turn around and blithely decide he wants to swallow the same poison."
His eyes narrowed like chips of ice.
"With or without the urging of some khokol- some outsider who knows nothing of this family, and through his own experience, should know better about this work."
no subject
"I think he doesn't have to handle it," he said. "Because I made sure of it."
He was galled by the Ukrainian's presumption, and had to remind himself that he had granted this man a place in the Ministry on his brother's behalf.
"Soon after Andrei was born, I already knew what my course of action would be. Masha's birth only reinforced my determination."
He felt his blood steel in his veins, the frost that settled on his skin. And ordinary man might crack from being frozen, but not a man who had made his peace with becoming ice.
"I threw myself upon the bonfire of my Father's legacy for a reason. I didn't swallow this bitter pill for nothing."
His voice became low and menacing.
"I didn't sacrifice my own life on the Ministry altar only to have my brother turn around and blithely decide he wants to swallow the same poison."
His eyes narrowed like chips of ice.
"With or without the urging of some khokol- some outsider who knows nothing of this family, and through his own experience, should know better about this work."