[ it'd be a small victory. beau doesn't have any confidence that huaisang would live past the end of the execution, even if he did win against his executioner. he is not nearly as well liked as jason or percy were. she knows how that ends.

it runs through her head, even as she speaks. ]

Nobody intends to, no. There has to be some sort of catch, and that's the only reason I'm going to keep playing.

But it's getting harder to believe, and it's getting harder to care. This was a victory, everybody keeps saying, we caught a fucking murderer, but --

[ her breath catches, and she bites her lip. ]

... But I'm still getting someone I love ripped away from me.