The Daughters' War (Blacktongue, #0)

by Christopher Buehlman

Your dog will not like him, and dogs are to be listened to in these matters.

With death, we were taught, would come the revelation of what the gods truly wanted from us.

It is tiring to deal with someone who has made an enemy of you when you do not think of them at all. But, of course, this is often why they hate you.

Some hopes are worth risk.

He deserves to be seen as he is, as do we all.

if you cannot win gold at the officers’ table, I suggest you lose silver with the infantry.

“Miri,” I said, and the smile that lit her lips to hear her name on mine was candlelight made flesh.

The duke is not all bad, however I make him sound, and I would like to say that no one is all bad. But some are. Some very few are.

Most people have made peace with the realities of human nature, and this makes their daily lives more comfortable. I am still trying to learn to do this. I try to remember that I am not responsible for what others do, nor should I hold them in judgment. But

To be loved by a man is to be issued a decree he has written in advance, and has presented to others; to receive a woman’s love is to have a very personal letter written on one’s body.

the gods are fond of echoes.

Do not seek to impress hard men with false martiality, for they know their own. Let soldiers scorn or admire you for what you are in truth. Do not be coaxed into rudeness when in the company of the rude. It is better to be thought dull by the vulgar than to be thought vulgar by those of consequence.

Observe the people local to a region and learn from them. Avoid the places they avoid, and endeavor to take your food and drink where they do.