Given to the Sea

Why should I care if the tides rise again if I am only a corpse riding the waves?

I am drawn to the water, yet I know it's not what calls me.

A man who dips his sword in every well soon finds it spotted with rust,

To be aware of your own doom is no easy thing.

For Khosa is married to one thing only, and that is the sea,

Khosa', I say again, And for the first time, I wish to be only that.

I'll keep first watch`, Dara says. `Get some sleep. Dream of women.` `You're confused, sister. They dream of me. And what is it you think of, if you ever rest easy?` Dara's mouth tightens, all traces of humor gone. `Revenge.

My arrival saved the kingdom, while his only reiterated that his blood would fill the throne one day.

Ànd how do you fill your time?`, Donil asks. My eyes fall to the book in front of me, a flush creeping up on my face when I realise that it's a study of the Indiri, opened to a particularly detailed drawing of an Indiri male. I pull a paper over it quickly, but not before Donil sees. `Khosa.`, he says, clicking his tongue at me. `Naughty, naughty.

I am doomed to live. I am the redeemed, The girl who called the ocean on the heads of an invading army.

It is not the occurence of nothing that provides proof, but the occurence of something,

The thought of Indiri blood calling more loudly to Khosa than mine lent some violence to my actions.

Cathon's blood drips on the fallen books, marrying pages, something I would have mourned only moments ago.

King Gammal shakes his head. `I gave these men a speech about courage. I can hardly be seen fleeing,` `And I wrote the speech.`, Vincent says.

There's no bearing it, young Lithos. All things die. We only hold their hands as they go.

Why have you made a boat?`, Witt asks, a question he will repeat many times, to the sick and the old.

Mother, you've ended the world.

Were all Indiri women so prideful?`, Vincent asks. `For the sake of my male ancestors, I hope not

Two feet as well, the webbing says much.` `One stands in evidence alone, why take two?` `Because feet come in pairs

Another Given in my place may have found him suitable, and he could have afthered the next cursed daughter.

It is in my blood. It is in my bones. It is in my brain. One day my body will betray me, dancing into the sea, my mind a passenger only. The water will close over my head and I will drown

...just because you don't understand something doesn't mean it's not the truth...

A good person does not necessarily make a good king.

Put your teeth together and keep them that way.