"There's one more thing." The envoy took a photo from the briefcase and handed it over. "The President asked me to give this to you."
Alvarez took the photo. It showed a person standing at the entrance of the Presidential Palace, wearing a dark suit but no tie. His hair was grizzled, he was hunched, his face aged, eyes hollowed, cheekbones protruding. He stood on the steps, sunlight bathing his face, with the open door behind him, leading into darkness.
It was Assad. A man, standing before three hundred thousand people, saying, "I was wrong."
"The President says, he was wrong. He said it. Having said it, he's no longer afraid. Not afraid, he's living. Living, he won't die. Not dying, he has to live. Living, he has to continue being President. Continue being President, he has to continue killing. Continue killing, and people will continue holding photos at the Presidential Palace entrance. It's his fate. Fate, can't be changed."
