Realm Breaker

Boys do stupid things to feel like men, no matter how old they are.

Only men can speak all day long and still think themselves silent.

I don’t belong anywhere,” Corayne said, her voice failing. To her surprise, Sorasa cracked a smile. “There are plenty of people like that,” she said. “And nowhere is still a somewhere.

Well, if you don’t belong to a place, perhaps we belong to each other? We who belong nowhere?” Sorasa offered. Her copper eyes glimmered, dancing with the light off the river.

History gorges itself on women raised high and then brought low by men grasping for their power.

I can't imagine living for a thousand years and still being so stupid...It's almost an accomplishment.

We don’t choose what we’re born to, Corayne,” Erida replied. She touched the crown on her brow. “We can only walk the path put in front of us.

I have nothing to ask, and the world to offer.

This is the best way out of here. To the horizon and beyond it. To whoever I am, in my bones.

Sorasa tried to remember the last time she’d said thank you to a living person and meant it. Years, if not decades, she realized, racking her brain. Well, no use in breaking the streak now.

Sorrow touched us all, Lord Donacridhan, whether we believe in it or not. It doesn’t matter what you call the thing ripping you apart. It will still devour you if given the chance.

Today, we fight for tomorrow.

Only death would stop him. Only death would keep him from me.

Even when it isn’t the end of the world, the realm is a dangerous place for women,

To those who seek and never find

My love, you don’t know what you’re asking for.” Corayne narrowed her black eyes. “Oh, I think I do.

I don't belong anywhere," Corayne said, her voice failing. To her surprise, Sorasa cracked a smile. "There are plenty of people like that," she said. "And nowhere is still a somewhere." "That's foolish." "Well, if you don't belong to a place, perhaps we belong to each other? We who belong nowhere?" Sorasa offered. Her copper eyes glimmered, dancing with the light off the river. Despite the ugly feeling in the pit of her stomach, Corayne found herself smiling too. "Perhaps," she echoed.

What you learned in a palace, I learned better in the mud. — Taristan of Old Cor

Her silence was her best quality. Perhaps her only good one.

His eyes met Erida’s like lightning finding the earth.

Take your sword and bleed for me, and I will bleed for you. Win us the crown our ancestors could only dream of.

I do not scowl,” Dom said, scowling.

I am ruler of Galland, but I am a queen, not a king. I must be careful in what I say, and what weapons I give my enemies. I will not give anyone cause to call me weak-minded or mad.

No amount of squiring had prepared him for a girl like Corayne. Noble ladies, perhaps, shy behind their hands or scheming in their silks. But not the girl in front of him, with a sword on her back and maps in her pockets, the starless night in her eyes.

The squire will march and fight and carry on until he drops. Until someone gives him permission to stand back, and be a little less strong.

Hammer and nail, the Companions are now seven, wind and gail, bound for hell or bound for heaven.

The Amhara has great need for those who can pass unseen, and who is more unseen to men than a woman?

That was unkind," Sorasa said in a flat voice, without judgement. A simple statement of fact. Sigil shrugged. "No one pays me to be kind." At Corayne's shoulder, Andry leaned, closing the distance between them. "She might be harsher than Sorasa," he said out of the corner of his mouth. At the rear of their line, Dom scoffed. "I did not realize there was a competition for worst personality," he crowed. Sorasa didn't hesitate. "It's not a competition with you around, Elder." On the road, Charlie jabbed a thumb over his shoulder, his discomfort forgotten. "Do all immortals have sticks up their asses or just him?" Their joined laughter carried through the Larsian fields, rustling the tall grass. To Corayne's delight, even Dom's lips twitched, betraying a smile.

Discord is a better shield than steel.