Behind my back when they talk, I am glad! Again before me, they whisper foam and murmur sweetly, and I am seized with laughter! I am happy with such people... They are so cowardly and base. But I fear my false friends, for they are with me! They weave lies... There is nothing worse in this life than a friendly blade in the back... Even the temple bell trembles at such evil... Ah, the enemy! He is plain, foretold, but the friend, your brother... Where treachery has already shown its face... That costs far more than any chains! He is dangerous! Most dangerous! He creeps slowly through your door! With a smile supposedly tender, radiant, but a dagger hidden in his hand... That is why I will turn my back forever... to words dripping with flattery! I care not! And I will not grovel at anyone's feet... I shall remain myself until the end!
# Welcome, Enemies Come in. I have prepared a room for you—white walls, a narrow bed, a window that opens onto nothing but sky. Come in. I have swept the corners clean of names, polished the mirrors until they reflect only your face. Come in. I have waited with patience that tastes like rust, like the slow turning of a key in an old lock. Come in. I have laid out bread that will not break, salt that will not dissolve, water that will not spill— all the things a guest requires. Come in. I have forgotten what it was you took, what it was I could not keep. I have forgotten the year, the color of my own anger. Come in. The door is open wide. The threshold is worn smooth by the weight of arrivals. Come in, and tell me— do you recognize the house you are entering? Do you recognize the woman who greets you, who offers you a chair, who asks how long you intend to stay? Do you recognize yourself in the room she has prepared— the one with white walls, the one with nothing but sky?
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