Katarina Leis

“It took several minutes before I was strong enough to say more than a few words of welcome to Aurelia. She returned my gratitude by saying, “You both are going to smell horrid, and now I’ll smell too. Honestly, Nic, I’m beginning to wonder what your attraction is to sewage.”

“It’s not what attracts me down here as much as what repels me up there,” I said. Despite being covered in filth I didn’t even want to think about, I felt only happiness for being here now. This was the second time the Cloaca Maxima had saved my life. And much more than the second time that Aurelia had come to save me.

I stood and helped Livia to her feet. She was obviously disgusted by the smells around us, but hid her revulsion as well as anyone could. When she faced Aurelia, I made the introductions.

“Your brother has told me so much about you,” Aurelia said with a polite bow to Livia.

Livia bowed back. “And the same for you. From Nic’s descriptions, I feel as if I already know you.”

“He described me?” Aurelia glanced my way with a broad grin. I felt myself blushing and hoped it wasn’t visible in the torchlight.

“This is a terrible place for such silly talk,” I said. “Let’s go.”

Aurelia and Livia began walking, with me trailing them. “What did Nic say about me?” Aurelia asked.

“That you’re loud and you ask too many questions,” I replied before Livia could speak.

Livia giggled. “No, that wasn’t it.”

Then Aurelia giggled too, which left me thoroughly confused. What did giggling mean anyway? It sounded happy, but it certainly wasn’t making me feel any better. Considering they had just met, what unspoken joke could they already have in common?

Oh. It was me.”
― Jennifer A. Nielsen, Rise of the Wolf

“and when nobody wakes you up in the morning, and when nobody waits for you at night, and when you can do whatever you want. what do you call it, freedom or loneliness?”
― Milan Kundera

“Nick often frequented the coffee houses and taverns down by the university, spending hours in philosophical dialogues with his friends.”
― Cinda Williams Chima, The Warrior Heir

“My grandfather just called you a pig,” I said. “You are many things, Decimas Brutus, but not a pig.” He hesitated. “No, I am not. Thank you.” “After all,” I added, “that comparison is a terrible insult to pigs.”
― Jennifer A. Nielsen, Wrath of the Storm