“Men are not angels,” Akhmar affirmed. “And so men have the chance to be noble, in a way that angels cannot.”

“Shut up,” I snapped. “This is not the time. What part of this situation seems like a joke to you?”Lohka pulled up his knees, giving a feeble, half-manic little laugh. “Oh, maybe just the idea that some soul-devouring being of chaos could be waiting anywhere to finish destroying my life,” he said. “That’s kind of hilarious, you know. Have you ever had a soul-devouring being of chaos hunting you down so it could finish eating you?”“No,” I said. “I’m sorry, Lohka.”“That’s nice,” he muttered.“What about the part where this soul-devouring being of chaos seems to have a taste for me at the moment?” Zhabyr asked. “Can we worry about that, now? Because I kind of already am.”

“Sometimes people need to know they could be forgiven to have the strength to change.”

“When I was younger, I used to think that loving someone meant being weak. I thought it meant giving yourself up and losing your identity, and becoming just an other to someone else. I thought that only those who weren’t strong enough to stand on their own needed someone to lean on. I never realized that love is as much about giving strength as accepting it, and that love doesn’t mean that you can’t stand on your own, but only that now you can fly.”

“To peace, Royin... We give our lives seeking it, but it is only in death that we find it.”

“Men sucked. They were the root of every problem any woman could ever have. They were the reason for bras, the need for makeup, hair stylists, shaving legs,and high heels that made the arch feel like it had a steel rod slammed up it. They were picky, arrogant, argumentative, and so damned certain of themselves <...>.”

“He does kiss like a pirate though, I was able to re-affirm that.”