The Mapmaker's War Quotes

“The Guardians perceived cycles, not finality.”
― Ronlyn Domingue, The Mapmaker's War

“To see a spiderweb was a matter of awareness. You noticed that you shared a space with the creature. You had a choice to leave it alone, destroy it, or engage with it.”
― Ronlyn Domingue, The Mapmaker's War

“As long as their fear of the dragon is stronger than their greed, this is a reasonable loss, said he. What’s concerned us is that someone will become bold and organize a way to maim or kill her. The hoard is only metals and jewels. Nothing essential to life. Egnis’s mystery is.”
― Ronlyn Domingue, The Mapmaker's War

“They understood that the innate emotions of humans were mutable. Anger didn’t have to lead to violence, hate to cruelty, fear to oppression. There was a space for change between what words were said and what deeds were done.”
― Ronlyn Domingue, The Mapmaker's War

“They weren’t surprised that you had gone to find the truth about the dragon and its treasure. Such curiosity is reasonable, said an elder woman. They all nodded.”
― Ronlyn Domingue, The Mapmaker's War

“You knew you couldn’t reason with him. Not in the state he’d created for himself.”
― Ronlyn Domingue, The Mapmaker's War

“You felt like a beast, but you weren't simply one. Once you accepted the pregnancy was yours to bear, you did become vigilant. They were to grow. You were to tend them. But you were mystified by other women's joyfulness at your condition. You remembered overhearing, as a girl, their talk of how a young woman would hear a coo one day that would turn her soft and make her want a baby. Such a thing had never happened to you.”
― Ronlyn Domingue, The Mapmaker's War

“You were perplexed by the women who came up to your swollen body. Remove your hands, you wanted to say. Don't touch me. What a blessing, they said. What a blessing? No, you were an animal, you thought, a heatless bitch, ewe, cow, doe. You carry one of your own kind. The conception is nothing. That happens whether chosen or not. It is the persistence of life. One is begotten. One begets.”
― Ronlyn Domingue, The Mapmaker's War