He thought he’d found a sub-clause in the logic of fate’s contract that would
allow him to live. The dreams told him, plainly, that he would die the day he
faced you, but he convinced himself that this did not count as a day. It
couldn’t be a day, for time had ground to a halt, and thus the prophecy could
not be fulfilled. This casuistry has worked for him before. He has used it to
deny fate several times, perhaps more times than any other son. He thinks he
can do it again.
Well, fate has grown tired of his prevarications. It is no longer charmed by
his constant, clever escapes and dialectic evasions