For a moment I simply stared at him. The man had exposed my lie so casually that it almost felt insulting.
"You seem very confident," I said.
"Not confident." Augustus smiled pleasantly while looking between the two of us. "Experienced. I have spent a very long time dealing with both the living and the dead. Just because I serve as the Gatekeeper of the Null Realm does not mean I suddenly became ignorant of how the living think." He lightly adjusted his tie before continuing. "In fact, I would argue I understand them better than most living people understand themselves."
The lanterns lining the stone pathway flickered softly around us while the darkness beyond them remained endless and silent.
"People lie to me every day, Mister Ironhart. Some lie because they are afraid. Some because they are hiding something. Some because they believe they are protecting others." He shrugged lightly. "The reasons change. The lies rarely do."
