“As much as I try to make the past keep still and mind its manners, it moves and murmurs with me through every day.”

“I have never got a grip on when the past begins or where it ends, but if cities map the past with statues made from bronze forever frozen in one dignified position, as much as I try to make the past keep still and mind its manners, it moves and murmurs with me through every day.”

“Tell me, Channon," he said suddenly, "do you like teaching?""Some days. But it's the research I like best. I love digging through old manuscripst and trying to piece together the past."He gave a short, half laugh. "No offense, but that sound incredibly boring.""I imagine dragon slaying is much more action-oriented.""Yes, it is. Every moment is completely unpredictable.”

“Keep walking, though there's no place to get to.Don't try to see through the distances.That's not for human beings. Move within,But don't move the way fear makes you move.”

“A while ago?” Anaxantis asked. “Yes, he raped me a while ago. Exactly nine months and two days ago. What's that? Nine months or nine minutes. It's the same. And it is in the past, you say? Then why is it still happening, every day, every time I close my eyes? Every time I hear someone behind me, and I don't know who it is? How is it that I get an almost irresistible urge to kill anyone who happens to touch me unexpectedly? Tell me, Hemarchidas, how do I forgive, let alone forget, something that is still happening, that keeps happening over and over? How? How do I do that?”

“Still the hottest angel I know," he murmured."It's beyond me how you're still on staff.”