Chapter 205

The prince raised his cup and said bitterly, “Gout is a dreadful companion in life. Every moment it stabs my swollen joints like needles. Yet that pain is nothing beside the sorrow in my heart. Lord Envoy, even I could scarcely enter my own palace. Every whisper along the road struck me like an arrow through the chest.”

Arianne was about to speak, but Tyrion interjected with guilty haste. “My apologies, my prince. For gout, I’m afraid I’m of little use.”

Then, shifting tone, he added, “But there may be another way to ease your suffering.”