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September 29 - October 7, 2025
“Wherever I am,” Tané said, “I am with you.” Susa had risked everything for a dream that was not hers. That sort of friendship was something not found more than once in a lifetime. Some might not find it at all.
“You have not seen death, my lord. You have only seen the mask we put on it.”
“How do you suppose we find this tavern?” “By . . . relying on our instincts,” Loth said, unsure. “The commons must get on well enough.” “Arteloth, we are courtiers. We have no useful instincts.”
We are judged for today, not for yesterday.
As he looked her in the face, Tané knew, at last, that he would never call her village chaff again. To call her that would prove that chaff could grow taller than grass.
“I do not sleep because I am not only afraid of the monsters at my door, but also of the monsters my own mind can conjure. The ones that live within.”
“I swear to love you with my soul, defend you with my sword, and give nobody else my favor. This I vow to you.”
She looked them both in the eye. “We will watch her. We will listen well. Remember why we wear blades as well as jewels.”
Niclays might have been touched had he considered any of them friends, or been interested in their regards, warm or otherwise.
“My friend,” Niclays said, “please pardon me if this is an ignorant question.” “Only ignorant men do not ask questions.”
No woman should be made to fear that she was not enough.
“Damn you, you are my companion. You have shared my bed. My flesh. My—my heart,” Sabran snapped at him. Her face was taut, her voice ragged. “And you will not leave our daughter fatherless, Aubrecht Lievelyn. You will not leave us here to mourn you.”
“Then I am the most fortunate of all princes,” he whispered. “And I swear to you, our child will be the most beloved princess who ever lived.”
“My queen. My blessing. I will love you both until I am worthy of my good fortune.”
A thrill sang through Tané as they plummeted toward the sea. She could not breathe for dread and joy. It was as if her heart had been hooked from her mouth, caught like a fish on a line.
My evening star. If the sun burned out tomorrow, your flame would light the world.
“The one who wears the chains is a thousand times greater than the one who wields them,” Nayimathun said. “Chains are cowardice.”
The way he gazed at her, she might have been a sunrise after years of night. “So that I might love her as she has always deserved.”
“I will send you away with my blessing, Tané, if you promise me one thing,” he murmured. “That one day, you will forgive yourself. You are in the spring of your life, child, and have much to learn about this world. Do not deny yourself the privilege of living.”
I could tell you of her beauty, Lord Arteloth, but I doubt the greatest writer in history could do justice to it, and alas, I never was a writer of much skill.
