I’d been right, when I returned to Shadowhold, to fear that I’d changed. I had. But the woman I was now—walking past wrought-iron fences wreathed in greenery and corner taverns adorned with flowerpots—this woman was all the things I’d hoped one day I would be: a little more worldly, a little less afraid to ask for what I wanted, sympathetic to the ambiguities of life and the complicated choices we all faced. Not necessarily brave, but aware of the fact that it was courageous just to get up each day when there was so much to fear…Maybe most importantly—this woman liked herself.
