“Everyone makes choices in life. Some bad, some good. It's called living, and if you want to bow out, then go right ahead. But don't do it halfway. Don't linger in whiner's limbo.”

“Everyone grieves in different ways. For some, it could take longer or shorter. I do know it never disappears. An ember still smolders inside me. Most days, I don’t notice it, but, out of the blue, it’ll flare to life.”

“Well, Valek, any new promotions?” the Commander asked“No. But Maren shows promise. Unfortunately she doesn’t want to be in my corps or even be my second.She just wants to beat me.” Valek grinned, delighted by the challenge.“And can she?” the Commander inquired. His eyebrows rose.“With time and the proper training. She’s deadly with her bow; it’s just her tactics that need work.”“Then what do we do with her?”“Promote her to General and retire some of those old wind-bags. We could use some fresh blood in the upper ranks.”“Valek, you never had a good grasp of military structure.”“Then promote her to First Lieutenant today, Captain tomorrow, Major the next day, Colonel the day after, and General the day after that.”“I’ll take it under advisement.”

“Poisoned, pursued and living with a psychopath. Not what I would consider the good life. Death has its perks.”

“I'd wish you luck, but I don't think it would help.''Why not?''My lady, you make your own luck.”

“Why did Mother ask you to help me rescue Gelsi?” I asked Leif.“She thought I could assist you in some way. Instead, I had tried to—”“Kill me? You can join the ‘I Want to Kill Yelena Guild.’ I hear they have six members in good standing. Valek is president since he had wanted to kill me twice.”

“Right before I was escorted to the jail, Fawn waved bye bye to me. I smiled. My empty, pointless life for hers. Not bad.”