I have made calculations that would beggar your soul. What is it that villains always say at the end of stories? You and I are more alike than you think? Well,โ the Marquess took Septemberโs hand in hers and very gently kissed it. โWe are. Oh, how alike we are! I feel very warmly towards you, and I only want to protect you, as I wish someone had protected me. Come, September, look out the window with me. Itโs not a difficult thing. A show of faith, letโs call it.
Catherynne M. ValenteI wouldn't even consider it if I were you. But then if I were you, I would not be me, and if I were not me, I would not be able to advise you, and if I were unable to advise you, you'd do as you like, so you might as well do as you like and have done with it.
Catherynne M. ValenteBecause Iโm a cat. A big one, the Panther of Rough Storms, in fact. But still a cat. If thereโs a saucer of milk to spill, Iโd rather spill it than let it lie. If my mistress grows absent-minded and leaves a ball of yarn about, Iโll bat it between my paws, and unravel it. Because itโs fun. Because itโs what cats do best.
Catherynne M. ValenteDo you suppose you will look the same when you are an old woman as you do now? Most folk have three facesโthe face they get when theyโre children, the face they own when theyโre grown, and the face theyโve earned when theyโre old. But when you live as long as I have, you get many more. I look nothing like I did when I was a wee thing of thirteen. You get the face you build your whole life, with work and loving and grieving and laughing and frowning.
Catherynne M. Valente