Truth and Other Lies (The Nine Worlds Rising #1)

by Lyra Wolf

This hurt my feelings, which I hated. It made me admit I had feelings in the first place.

“But not ones filled with such hope and drive. Human bodies are weak. The slightest chill in the wind and they fall like timber, but their souls…” His lips pulled into a wide smile like a child daydreaming of summer. “There is a strength in them you don’t find in beings a hundred times stronger.”

Knowledge is to be shared, not locked away and dictated by men with white hair.”

“That’s what love is,” she said. “Love is sacrifice.” I chuckled darkly crossing my arms. Dear innocent little Sigyn. “Love makes us fools and monsters.”

“Love is a funny thing,” she said. “It can harm, but it can heal. Give us pain, and give us joy. But what I’ve discovered is that no matter what, when love does make us fools, it also makes us better.”

My eyes stung as her whispers swelled in the silence as she prayed to one God for another. For the god of lies. The evil-doer. The trickster. I knew then my heart was lost to her.

“Everyone cares. We tell ourselves we can be strong, that words are just words, but every hurtful utterance cuts us, every snide remark brands our flesh. We drown in the criticism of others, all the while pretending we can swim."