PROLOGUE
They never noticed my crown, my pain, the fire in my eyes.
They think I am some poet who will lead them through the symbols and spaces of this Underworld.
They should call me Cerberus… I am the lesson.
ROOM 6
If you think of all the deceptions practiced in my family, particularly on my father…
ROOM 7
“Weren’t you ever irresponsible?” I asked, thinking of my childhood and how wild I had been.
ROOM 11
I’ve always hated confinement.
ROOM 15
…sometimes I think, after all these years, that I don’t really know myself.
ROOM 16
…a stone chamber which reminded me of my old neighbors. Of course, that was a long time ago now, but would you believe their descendants are still telling stories about me and my family to their children? Even if most of the stories are lies and exaggerations, it is immortality of a sort.
ROOM 22
It’s true, I am by nature extremely critical. Although my life is a lonely one I have not spared any of my guests the rigor of my judgment.
ROOM 23
…looking over my shoulder, which is not easy to do.
ROOM 25
Though one of my parents might be lowborn, the other was close to a king.
ROOM 32
I have come to think of all the inhabitants of this House as members of my little kingdom.
…we are all animals, at least in part.