I… can’t believe it.
After all that.
Everything… Gone.
All I’ve worked for. All I owned.
Sitting at the bottom of the bloody Firth of Forth.
Now I see that Mr. Vane never had any intention of returning anything. It was all a cruel trick. A game. A show of force. He wanted nothing more than to watch me dance—to jump and kick to his oh-so-clever tune.
Well, we’ll see who gets the last laugh. Greyburne’s has weathered far worse than the Nightshade Gang. Will do it a thousand times over, before all is said and done. In the end, it will be I who spits on his grave, not the other way around.
Oh yes, I’ll recover. Have no doubt about that. I’ll earn it all back and more, even if I have to start from zero.
After all, I’ve the most formidable ally of all: Time.
And you lot, of course. We may have been beaten this once, but the game we played was rigged from the start. You did the best with what you had and you made a fair showing. You’re new to all this, but you didn’t let that stop you. No, no. I was rightly impressed, and now you’ve shown me what a valuable resource you can be. If you reach your potential.
I can help with that.
Yes, I think that this little experience will turn out to be the start of something great. For the both of us. You will be my eyes and ears and hands. And in return, I will show you things that you never thought possible. Wonders beyond your wildest dreams. Like the sun and rain to the sapling, I will make you whole. Just stick around.
This is only the beginning, I promise.
Welcome to my world.