Emily Walker

“Kalmar nodded. "I'm sorry, Papa. I wasn't strong enough."
"None of us are, lad. Me least of all." Esben smiled and took a rattling breath. "But it's weakness that the Maker turns to strength. Your fur is why you alone loved a dying cloven. You alone in all the world knew my need and ministered to my wounds." Esben pulled Kalmar closer and kissed him on the head. "And in my weakness, I alone know your need. Hear me, son. I loved you when you were born. I loved you when I wept in the Deeps of Throg. I loved you even as you sang the song that broke you. And I love you now in the glory of your humility. You're more fit to be the king than I ever was. Do you understand?"
Kalmar shook his head.
Esben smiled and shuddered with pain. "A good answer, my boy. Then do you believe that I love you?"
"Yes, sir. I believe you." Kalmar buried his face in his father's fur.
"Remember that in the days to come. Nia, Janner, Leeli - help him to remember.”
― Andrew Peterson, The Monster in the Hollows

“We're in the Maker's keeping. Even if we die trying, death is just another way out. But you? You'll just turn to dust.”
― Andrew Peterson, The Warden and the Wolf King

“We all forget from time to time, and so we need one another to tell us our stories. Sometimes a story is the only way back from the darkness.”
― Andrew Peterson, The Warden and the Wolf King

“If you want people to know the truth, tell them.
If you want people to love the truth, tell them a story.”
― Andrew Peterson