I SERVICE ALL THINGS IN TIME, SORCERER. Death grinned like a skull, for lack of any other expression, but now the glow in his eye sockets seemed sternly solid. YOU ARE ASKING, INSTEAD, WHETHER YOU OUGHT TO HAVE SEEN ME BEFORE. TO WHICH MY ANSWER IS: I CAN'T SAY. I DO NOT DEAL IN OUGHTS. UNCERTAINTIES, YES - OCCASIONALLY.

Finally, with care, he removed the sad-looking straw from his teeth.

IF IT HELPS, I DON'T BELIEVE WE HAVE BEEN INTRODUCED. BUT THIS SITUATION IS VERY OFF-PUTTING, YOU KNOW, he added, a shade regretful. THERE ARE RULES.