“I do not confuse what was done to you with who you are,” I offered. “When I look at you, I see Starling Birdsong the minstrel.” She nodded her face against me, and I knew it was as I surmised. She and I shared that fear. We would not live as victims. I said no more than that, but only sat there. It came to me again that even if we found Verity, even if by some miracle his return would shift the tides of war and make us victors, for some the victory would come far too late. Mine had been a long and weary road, but I still dared to believe that at the end of it there might be a life of my own
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