An Extraordinary Union

Such finery, paid for at the small cost of human lives and dignity.

Don’t you see?” she asked. “This is our homeland, too. We shouldn’t have to wreak havoc on the land to be seen as citizens! We shouldn’t have to.

Trust was a funny thing in that people thought they guarded it closely but were often willing to hand it over at the slightest sign of camaraderie.

We don’t want revenge, Malcolm.” She looked at him like he was the densest bastard to ever walk the earth. “We want life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, just like any damned fool in these United States is entitled to so long as he isn’t Black or Red. So you can keep your outrage. All I can do is try to make a difference.

It seemed the more he cared for her, the more easily he hurt her. Is that what love was? A finely honed blade that would cut at the slightest pressure?

What twisted providence allowed people so subjugated to be so kind and thoughtful to the people who kept them under their boot?

This misplaced nationalism was another kind of corrupted love, and it was just as unpalatable.

Man’s inhumanity to man wasn’t solely regulated by skin color, although it did allow its practitioners to choose their targets more easily.

Someone knew about their relationship, and once people knew something existed they could destroy it.

I fight for the Union because America is supposed to be a land where people can be free from tyranny, where families aren’t ripped apart to make a profit, where men aren’t whipped for speaking their mind and women aren’t abused worse than brood mares.

Malcolm didn’t think Elle was simple, but Senator Caffrey and his family did, and still the man dreamt of forcing himself on her. Rape was a sin, as was subjugating other humans. Malcolm’s mind got muddled with anger thinking of how, in these lands, institutionalized sin was seen as a way of life that needed defending.

My mama has me trained well. Even if my hair is getting pulled out by the roots, I can sit still and not move.

Instead, Malcolm walked over to her and took the rag from her hands. She’d done enough scrubbing that day.

She was Ellen Burns, and she was going to help destroy the Confederacy.

Okay, Fitzwilliam. You'd rather I focus on your behavior before you presented me with this miraculous letter?

What is the proper response to seeing a child arrested? Another child, the umpteenth child, when you've lived here long enough. And worse, arrested for something you can't be sure they actually did, even if they get found guilty?

Don't I get to choose whom I talk to?' Susie asked, indignant. Malcolm regretted his action instantly. Yes, she was a pawn in his quest for information, but he needn't treat her as one.

His cheeks, and his courage apparently, had been warmed by whiskey’s sweet embrace.

What do you think this life holds for you without a husband?

her thoughts were in tumult as she quietly sorted through the cornmeal, searching out the grubs that were vying with hungry Virginians for the meager stores of food.

Help me to understand,” he said. He was still asking of her when he should be giving, but he didn’t know how else to proceed.

The broken heart. You think you will die, but you just keep living, day after day after terrible day.

just because you’re surrounded by folk who look like you doesn’t make a place your home.

What, an eye for an eye?” she scoffed. “‘If I cannot inspire love, I will cause fear’? What rubbish.