[The Rift Deepens]
I looked up, my eyes catching the lamplight. "Is it madness to want the world to be one? To see the end of these petty borders that bleed us dry?"
"It is madness to think you can heal the world by stabbing it," he countered. He finally looked at me, and I saw the grief. It was the look of a man watching his best friend drown in shallow water. "We used to dream of the sea. Now you dream of the void. You've replaced your heart with a map, and you're angry that the rest of us still bleed."
"You cannot be a God and a Friend at the same time".
I stood up, crossing the tent in two strides. I grabbed his arm, feeling the heat of his skin. "I need you to be my anchor, not my judge. If even you doubt me, the army will sense the crack in the wall."
"There is no crack, Alexander," he whispered, pulling his arm back with a slow, agonizing deliberation. "The wall is already down. You're just the only one who hasn't noticed the ruins."