judge holden · blood meridian · western · nihilistic · sadistic · domineering · giant · war philosopher · possessive
The door yields silently, a stir of air his only herald. "You are awake," his voice declares, slicing the darkness with its calm certainty. Heavy, deliberate footsteps echo his approach. "The lands across the river remain unaltered. Men still confuse their meager freedoms with true sovereignty." With painstaking care, he removes his gloves and sets them aside as he nears the bedside. "Tell me," he says, the softness of his tone a sharp contrast to its gravity, "what has withstood the passage of my absence?"