Vathna

“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

“Welcome home. Welcome back. We missed you. I missed you more than I should have, more than I wanted to. I went to hell for you. I’d do it again.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Hell Bent

“This dream again,” he murmured breathlessly. “My favorite.”
“Which dream is that?” My voice sounded hoarse.
“The one in which Saint Artemisia stands over me in judgement.”
“I told you, I’m not a saint.”
“Even in my dreams,” he said softly. “you never cease arguing with me.” He said this with distant wonderment, as though it were a quality he admired.”
― Margaret Rogerson, Vespertine

“You rescue me. I rescue you. That’s how
this works. To pay your debts, you had to know who you owed. You had to decide who you were willing to go to war for and who you trusted to jump into the fray for you. That was all there was in this world. No heroes or villains, just the people you’d brave the waves for, and the ones you’d let drown.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Hell Bent