Shards of Honour (Vorkosigan Saga, #1)

by Lois McMaster Bujold

And just when was it that you stopped being afraid of him, and started being afraid for him? And why is this new fear so much more gut-wrenching than the first? You don’t seem to have come out ahead on the trade, have you?

I’m sure we’d all rather be clever than brave.”

“I’m sorry. I can love you. I can grieve for you, or with you. I can share your pain. But I cannot judge you.”

“Well, I don’t hate him. Can’t say as I worship him, either.” She paused a long time, and looked up to meet her mother’s eyes square on. “But when he’s cut, I bleed.”

“But I’ve always thought—tests are a gift. And great tests are a great gift. To fail the test is a misfortune. But to refuse the test is to refuse the gift, and something worse, more irrevocable, than misfortune.