A Practical Guide to Conquering the World (The Siege, #3)

by K.J. Parker

“You did see her, didn’t you? That time when you thought you were bleeding to death and you were going to die.” “No,” I said. “I made that up.” She shook her head. “You think,” she said, “that just because you don’t believe in her, she doesn’t exist. Well, fuck you. I don’t know if this needle believes in me or not, but if I want to sew something, I use it. I couldn’t give a shit whether the needle has faith.” She was really starting to get to me. “Pull yourself together,” I said. “You know perfectly well that what you saw was a Robur actress called Hodda with no clothes on.” “Do I?” She grinned at me, like I’d just made a stupid chess move. “Explain to me, I’m just an ignorant savage. What’s an actress?” “You know perfectly well—” “Explain to me.” “Fine. An actress is a woman who plays a part in a theatre.” “I don’t know what that means. Explain some more.” “All right. A man writes a play. He writes out what all the actors are going to say. They learn it by heart. Then they stand up in front of an audience and pretend to be the people in the play.” “That’s what I thought,” she said. “So, when your Hodda goes out in front of the people watching, she’s not Hodda any more. She’s someone else.” My head was starting to hurt. “She’s pretending.” “Really.” She glared at me. “You go to one of these plays and you see a woman stand up and say and do things. Has she got a name?” “Yes.” “And the other people in the play. They can see her?” “Well, yes.” “And hear her?” “Yes, unless sh...

Lovely dialogue on the nature of truth