Ten Peccary's rum was packed under all of the wondrous gifts the foreigners intended for their city's king; and with a clear mind he started to worry about what Monkey Jaw had been saying all along. "Zero Wolf has a lot of kin in the royal court."
Monkey Jaw prodded him to an epiphany, "that's right. The minister of state is his paternal cousin."
"Really? They look nothing alike."
Monkey Jaw shrugged, "he has a frame built for politics."
"And we just let Jaguar-whoever-he-is go."
"Did we ever."
"And our comrades in arms have not been avenged!"
"Their bodies have become carrion for the buzzards."
"The minister will wonder why we two are the only survivors."
"He will wonder that after he flies into a rage and we are properly killed, yes."
Ten Peccary was horrified, "That can't be, Monkey Jaw. I wanted to return home as a hero."
"When we haven't done anything heroic?"
"I find it pretty astonishing that we survived Zero Wolf's madness and a prophecy foretelling our doom while Snake Ink was destroyed. All this time I thought he'd be the first to do Zero Wolf in."
They both exchanged a look. Ten Peccary said what they were both thinking. "Snake Ink has no relatives left to suffer his shame, and he will be too busy living it up in the afterlife to suffer any humiliation himself."