The Naming

There is no shame in not knowing something. The shame is in not being willing to learn.

You have a great heart, but will only find it to be so through great pain. This is the wisdom of love, and its doubtful gift. . . . I have endured much suffering and still remain unbitter and unclosed.

Light blooms the brighter in the darkest places.

And all meet in singing, which braids together the different knowings into a wide and subtle music, the music of living.

Drunk with beauty, I tore down Armfuls of blossoms. How desolate the marred sky!

There is no shame in loving: it is the sign of a generous heart, and pain the price of an open soul.

There come a few times in a person's life where there is a clear choice," Cadvan said. "The difference between one person and another is how they meet that choice,

What difference, being a pawn for the Light or a pawn for the Dark?" "There is a great difference. One difference is that for the Dark, certainly, you are a pawn. For the Light, you are a free human being, free to make mistakes, to do wrong, even. You are free to choose, whether or not you believe it.

You see aright. I am both Queen and Elidhu, here and there, wildfire and hearthfire, forgetting and remembrance. But do no yet speak of this, for men are impatient with such things and do not brook contradiction.

Your future is uncertain, and I can tell you nothing that can help you. You are singular and dangerous, and so it is that you are sought by both the Dark and the Light.

And then like thunder broke the frost, The chill wall fell, and morrowless Immortal maid and man embraced, Their light and shadow mingling.

I would rather die than stay there." "Well, you might die.

Speak to me, fair maid! Speak and do not go! What sorrows have your eyes inlaid With such black woe? My dam is buried deep Dark are my father's halls And carrion fowl and wolves now keep Their ruined walls From: The Lay of Andomian and Beruldh

It's not your fault there is evil in the world" Cadvan to Maerad

The taste on her palate was pungent and rich, the flavor of woodlands and dark earth simmered in sunshine.

The river plunged down in a long waterfall, plashing into several rocky pools on its way down the cliff.

She ached: oh, how she ached. Her soul was like one big bruise.

There is no shame in not knowing something,” he said gently. “The shame is in not being willing to learn.

At these times, the things that troubled her seemed far away and unimportant: all that mattered was the hum of the bees and the chirp of birdsong, the way the sun gleamed on the edge of a blue wildflower, the distant bleat and clink of grazing goats.

The law is that the hungry must be fed, and the homeless must be housed, and the sick must be healed. That is the way of the Light.” Maerad

...todos a los que cuidamos y amamos han de morir. ¿Y no es todo nuestro canto un lamento porque todo lo que es verde y bello ha de pasar, como las sombras sobre una llanura, sin dejar rastro? ¿Qué canción, por bella que sea, puede aliviar esta angustia?

No es ninguna vergüenza no saber nada. La vergüenza es no tener ansias de aprender.

...only more keenly aware of how her soul starved within her, its wings wasting with the despair of disuse.

...she felt as if her entire body were glowing with the taste of sunlight, of wind blowing in wide spaces and trees reaching their burdened arms to boundless skies.

I can promise, however, that the scrying will not hurt you,” Nelac continued. “And I will order a special feast afterward, just for you, to make up for it.” Hem

She wondered if the stars could sense the vibrations of human joy and wonder, of grief and despair.