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You well know that I have never required a man to be my protector. When the girls were small and Ephron was often at sea, I never asked his friends to settle business transactions for him, or deal with unpleasant realities in his absence. I coped. All Bingtown knows that. It is who I am. Now that I am truly alone, shall I quaver and faint and hide myself behind you? I think not. Reyn Khuprus comes today to meet the family of the girl he wishes to wed. He shall meet us as we truly are.”
Are all men so obtuse?” “Every one of them that I’ve ever known,”
‘The wise man takes the shortest path to peace with himself.’ Acceptance of what is, that is the shortest path.”
He smoothed one long thumb across the boy’s tattoo. “Wipe it away,” he commanded him. “On your face, it goes no deeper than your skin. You do not need to bear it on your soul.” For five breaths more Kennit held him, until he saw a sort of wonder cross Wintrow’s features. Kennit placed a kiss on his brow, then released him.
I don’t dream of babies and a pretty house. I don’t want a settled home, and a growing family. I’m not even sure I want a husband. Today Malta accused me of being odd. It stung worse than anything else she flung at me. Because it’s true. I suppose I am. I don’t want any of the things a woman is supposed to want.”
“Love isn’t just about feeling sure of the other person, knowing what he would give up for you. It’s knowing with certainty what you are willing to surrender for his sake. Make no mistake; each partner gives up something. Individual dreams are surrendered for a shared one. In some marriages, one partner gives up almost everything she once thought she wanted.
“Half the evil in this world occurs while decent people stand by and do nothing wrong.
No one can have so little that someone else can find nothing to envy. Poverty and simplicity were not shields from the greed of others.
Strange how men would resist slavery savagely, only to sell themselves for a simple chance at life.
Right and wrong is not profit and loss. Some things are too evil to make money from them.
“Sometimes,” he said earnestly, “Y’ave t’be yer own fam’ly. When yer all at’s left ov et.” Paragon did not speak.
“Maybe I need Brash’s friendship more than Grag’s approval.”
“By the time I found the boundaries, I had fallen off the edge of the world. I won’t let that happen to Paragon.”
“All my life, I’ve always had somewhere I could go to be alone. To go without solitude is like going without salt.”
I have never been more seen
If she had not shared dreams with him, she would not have understood what he had given up for her. But she did know. The city was his heart. Plumbing its secrets, walking its whispering streets, coaxing its mysteries to unfold for him was his essence. He had given up the core of his being, for her.
Males are timorous creatures at best. They think only to feed and breed. But you and I, young queen, we know there is more. Females must be ruthless, to shelter their young and continue the race. Chances must be taken. Males will quiver in the shadow, fearing their own deaths. We know that the only thing to be feared is the end of the race.”
Selden met the older man’s eyes. “Until then, let’s try to get ourselves out,” he proposed. “After all we’ve been through, I don’t want to be rescued by someone else. I want to do it myself.” Reyn grinned and nodded.
