The First Girl Child (The Chronicles of Saylok #1)

by Amy Harmon

Every time the clouds wrapped themselves around those cliffs, I would throw myself from them.” “Why?” he pressed. “Because the beauty of the fall was worth the pain of landing.”

“We do not live to endure. We endure so someday we can . . . live. I have endured a great deal, but there have only been a few moments when I have truly lived.”

He didn’t want to lead. But mayhaps he could serve. Mayhaps it was the same thing.

Home is inside of us. Home is the people we love. Home is what we strive for.

“Being with you . . . is like holding water in my hands,” she murmured, and he furrowed his brow, still waiting. “I want you to stay here . . . with me . . . and I know you can’t. I know you won’t. I’m dying for a drink, and it’s like holding water in my hands,” she repeated, enunciating each word. “I’ll never get enough to quench my thirst.”

“My b-body is yours. My heart is yours. My s-soul, my thoughts, my d-dreams, my life. Yours. I will do whatever you ask. Whatever you wish.” He raised his eyes to hers, his gaze as tormented as his voice. “But know this, your father will not allow it. And when he d-discovers that I love you, we will both suffer. I can b-bear my own suffering, but I can’t bear yours.”