Clooney always asked this. It was the most feeble of challenges. Even so, Dart had to stifle a momentary impulse to run away—or, worse, to break down and confess. But he could sense the Black-guard’s eyes prodding him in the back like a pistol-barrel. "Sir," he gargled. He had to cough up some bloody phlegm and swallow it before he could continue: "I told my lord I would come this week, he is due."