Vathna

“I wished I were better at speaking. All those thoughts were in my head, but I didn’t know how to get them out.”
― Margaret Rogerson, Vespertine

“I can’t accept it,” I answered.
“Accept what?”
I wasn’t certain I could put my tangled, poisonous thoughts into words. It felt blasphemous to even try. “That—that there can be such a thing as…not necessary evil, because evil is never necessary—it can’t be—but…acceptable evil. Hurt and cruelty that the Lady would allow in service to Her will. Like the goat in Naimes,” I said, dimly aware I’d never told the revenant about the goat and it would probably think I had lost my mind. “She wouldn’t make someone kick the goat.”
The revenant was quiet—a careful, pained pause. “Nun,” it said. isn’t that what She’s done to you?”
― Margaret Rogerson, Vespertine

“I was a really lonely kid. The advantage to being unpopular is you get a lot more reading done.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Hell Bent

“You have taken advantage of my silence in every way, robbed me of my dignity and my pride. You have used me for your own gain. Now, in your hour of greatest need, you will use me again. And yet, I will still risk my life to save yours. I swore and oath to this country on the day I donned this coat, to protect you and every other citizen from harm so long as there is breath in my body.”
― Marie Lu, Skyhunter