Each time Malik sees Altair drop into his bureau, bloodied and limping, he wonders if it will be the last time. At first, he can't help but hope it is, that this charade of civility can finally end.

Time heals all wounds, though, and months later as he's stitching a gash on Altair's shoulder blade put there by an overeager city guard, his hands covered in a worrying amount his blood, he finds himself praying that it isn't.