I, Geric-Sinath of Gerhard, declare that you're beautiful and you're perfect and I'll slay any man who tries to take you from my side. Goose girl, may I kiss you?

I'm the sheen on water, Rin thought. I'm a looking glass. I'm not real.

She dismounted, grabbed Enna's hand so tightly that she drew blood with her fingernails, walked straight into the nearest cottage, and plopped down on a bed. Enna nodded to the startled cottage dwellers. It's the queen, you see," said Enna. "She's going to have a baby in your house. You don't mind?

Its important to know stories. I felt the earth shift to make a place for you when you were born, and I came to tell you stories while you are young. And like me, you were born with a word on your tongue.

No wolf falters before the bite So strike No hawk wavers before the dive Just strike

Time is a wind that keeps blowing in my face and mumbling words that don't make sense.

And new, too. Remade. Ready to move again. Listening was the start, she decided. Doing was the next step.