He thought of the rebels who had trusted him. Make it mean something.
“You reject the Prize,” the Proctor said slowly, “by accepting the weight you already bear. That is… unprecedented.” DV-s The Skaafin Prize
“Ah, but the fourth is mine to design.” Vethis smiled, revealing teeth like carved bone. “And I have decided. You will not fight. You will not solve. You will remember. ” He thought of the rebels who had trusted him
The glass walls rippled. Suddenly Venn was no longer in the galleries. He was back in the salt-flat village of his childhood, the day the fever took his younger sister. He watched his twelve-year-old self hold her hand as she slipped away, helpless. That is… unprecedented
“I don’t want to bring anyone back,” Venn said, rising. His voice cracked, but it held. “The Prize is not resurrection. It’s a choice of which loss defines me.”