He was never big on stories, but he heard one about hell that struck him to the core.

Nine circles.

The ninth circle was reserved for traitors, for people who commit the ultimate sin of betrayal. Looking around, he couldn't help but wonder if he would be judged harshly enough to join Judas, Brutus, and Cassius. He certainly had betrayed them all, even himself, but leading them to this exile and to a living version of hell.

He should have figured it out, should have been smarter, faster, stronger. Bested by his lieutenant, he knew he would never encounter a greater shame.

He watched them scream and cry and hurt themselves in their desperation to stop the pain, and every day, every hour, he was forced to live with that burden.