I often think of what it would be like to see you again—how you might look and what you might say. I imagine different scenarios where you walk around a corner and there I am, magnificent and in control. I don't see you at first, and you hesitate. Is this a confrontation you want to have?

Of course, your curiosity gets the better of you. Our eyes meet. Neither of us say anything, because we both know what's at stake. This could be the end of an empire.