"About happy endings. Folk like a story to finish well. Doesn`t matter if that`s true to life or not. Helps to hear about folk being content. About good folk getting what they deserve. While you`re listening you can believe, for a bit, that you`re good too. Worth a happy ending."
I dashed away a sudden treacherous tear. "You`re saying they do only exist in stories."
"Thing is, the story`s like a different world. While you`re in it, anything can happen. The stupid get wise, the ugly get handsome, the poor find pots of gold, the swineherd marries the lady of the house. Only, as soon as the tale`s over, that`s all gone. You`re back in this world. And you`re still poor or stupid or ugly or all three, and folk like Mathuin are still getting away with murder."