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Added example(s)
Changed line(s) 542 (click to see context) from:
->''"May you become the weakest link in the Chain of Hunger.”''
to:
->''"May you become the weakest link in the Chain of Hunger.”''"''
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->"I used to think you lacked the knack for cruelty, did you know?" the shade smiled. "Oh, you've a way with the striking: to evoke fear or loyalty with an act and turn of phrase. Yet I always found your ways to be... clear. Lacking that touch of malice my people drink along with mother's milk."
->A moment passed, wind stirring both our long cloaks.
->"But not anymore," I said.
->"Last night," Akua pensively said, "might be the single most cruel act I was ever subjected to."
->I did not protest. Because it was true. Because this was the sound of bile being bled out of tainted veins.
->"I cannot even muster rancor, Catherine," she said. "For it was a misery entirely of my own making, and exquisitely brought besides."
->"It doesn't have to be that way," I said.
->She laughed, bleakly.
->"Doesn't it?" Akua said. "For I was allowed, for just a moment, the taste of something I might have had. And oh it was a heady thing, my queen. A place by your hearth, partaking of the warmth and belonging that radiates from it. And though they love you and have long despised me, your favour alone was enough for me to be made welcome. For them to..."
->She turned to me with burning golden eyes.
->"Do you not understand that the laughs should have been empty?" she hissed. "That it should have been artifice, at show put on for purpose. I am a better liar than any of them, Catherine Foundling, than any of you. I know the face of truth. After years of enmity all it took for them to make room for me by the fire was a word from you. I could have had all of this years ago."
->"Yes," I agreed, "you could have."
->"The closest I have to match to last night is a girl I sent to die," Akua bitterly said. "You've devised a poison so sweet I will crave the taste of it."
-->--'''Catherine and Akua - Book 5, Dawning'''
->A moment passed, wind stirring both our long cloaks.
->"But not anymore," I said.
->"Last night," Akua pensively said, "might be the single most cruel act I was ever subjected to."
->I did not protest. Because it was true. Because this was the sound of bile being bled out of tainted veins.
->"I cannot even muster rancor, Catherine," she said. "For it was a misery entirely of my own making, and exquisitely brought besides."
->"It doesn't have to be that way," I said.
->She laughed, bleakly.
->"Doesn't it?" Akua said. "For I was allowed, for just a moment, the taste of something I might have had. And oh it was a heady thing, my queen. A place by your hearth, partaking of the warmth and belonging that radiates from it. And though they love you and have long despised me, your favour alone was enough for me to be made welcome. For them to..."
->She turned to me with burning golden eyes.
->"Do you not understand that the laughs should have been empty?" she hissed. "That it should have been artifice, at show put on for purpose. I am a better liar than any of them, Catherine Foundling, than any of you. I know the face of truth. After years of enmity all it took for them to make room for me by the fire was a word from you. I could have had all of this years ago."
->"Yes," I agreed, "you could have."
->"The closest I have to match to last night is a girl I sent to die," Akua bitterly said. "You've devised a poison so sweet I will crave the taste of it."
-->--'''Catherine and Akua - Book 5, Dawning'''
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Deleted line(s) 19,20 (click to see context) :
->''“See, this is exactly the kind of trouble I’d be avoiding by mind controlling the entire world. You fools are making my point for me, can’t you see?”''
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-->--
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-->--'''Dread Emperor Imperious'''
->''“See, this is exactly the kind of trouble I’d be avoiding by mind controlling the entire world. You fools are making my point for me, can’t you see?”''
->''“See, this is exactly the kind of trouble I’d be avoiding by mind controlling the entire world. You fools are making my point for me, can’t you see?”''
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->''"“You must hate him[[note]][[superscript:Black, her father's murderer.]][[/note]] like poison,” I eventually said. “Are you remaining civil as a courtesy to me?”"''
->“Hate,” Akua repeated, tone pensive. “I can see why you would believe so.”
->“Are you claiming you don’t?” I asked.
->“I suppose I might kill him, given reason,” the shade said. “Though that would differ from duty only by the tinge of satisfaction that it would bring, like an old mistake finally blotted out.”
->“I was there, Akua,” I said. “I know what it did to you, when-”
->''She turned to me with burning eyes, and my tongue halted.''
->“My father’s death was the writ of many hands,” she said. “His, it is true, but others as well. The goblins who fired the crossbows. Your own, for serving as distraction while he was taken. But most of all, the fault is mine.”
->''She looked way.''
->“I waged war on villains, and did not sufficiently safeguard that which was precious to me,” Akua said. “I am the mother of that murder in every way that matters.”
->“There’s sense to that,” I replied. “Logic, even... And not a trace of the grief I saw then,” I finished.
->''She turned to meet my gaze, and for once there was anger not mastered or leashed in the cast of her face.''
->“What is it you want from me, Catherine?” the shade asked bitingly. “Tears? Lamentations? Or is it pain that you demand?”
->“Yes,” I said. “I want you to be in pain.”
->''She flinched back at that like I’d slapped her. Before a heartbeat had even passed, she was smiling and amused and her body beginning to angle so it would display her curves more prominently. I admired how well she’d been trained almost half as much as I utterly despised it.''
->“While I’ve certainly heard you prefer the rougher forms, I-”
->“If you’re in pain,” I continued, “if you can feel pain, I means you value things. People. That you begin to understand things other than yourself have value.”
->“I have always known that,” Akua said. “Your take on Praesi values, my heart, remains simplistic for all that we have spoken of the subject.”
->“Intellectually you assign value to other people,” I corrected. “For their usefulness, potential, the pleasure or amusement they can bring you. But that’s still thinking of them as assets. As objects. But if their loss pains you, Akua, they were more than an object to you.”
->“Should I weep, then?” the shade harshly replied. “Should I wail and beat my chest, swear revenge on all those who can be revenged upon? Should I burn half the world to assuage my grief, make Creation pay the long price?”
->“Would you like to?” I asked her softly. “Weep. Wail. Bury him with no honours of mine, but what you can offer from daughter to father.”
->“And what would you know of that, Catherine?” Akua said, sounding tired.
->''My eyes flicked back to the body laid out in front of us.''
->“I know,” I said, “that sometimes you grieve more what could have happened than what did.”
->“He shouldn’t have been born in Praes,” Akua said. “He’d be angry with me for saying that, but anywhere else on the continent they would have let him read in peace and deep down that was all he ever wanted. But in the Wasteland, when the Gift flowers so strongly there are expectations.”
->“He was powerful, I’m told,” I said. “Like few others.”
->“Like many others,” Akua softly denied. “But he was clever and found angles others did not even consider. But he was not of the old blood, so his fate was death or patronage. He could have been husband to my mother, you know. He had the talent for it and if he’d tried to establish a presence at her court he would at least have been made a formal consort. But it wasn’t in his nature, Catherine, to see magic as a tool for power. To him it wasn’t just the Gift, it was a gift.”
->“He’s the one who taught you,” I said.
->“I suppose he did,” Diabolist murmured. “Though it was never a lesson in the way my tutors would have made it. He was… sharing something he loved with me. Helping me understand it so we could wonder at it together. It made a difference. I could not help but love it as well, when it was something that was ours.”
->“I loved him,” Akua suddenly admitted. “But, in the end, not as much as I loved what my mother taught me to reach for.”
->''She chuckled barrenly.''
->“So how could I dare weep, dearest one, when I chose that ambition over him?” she said.
-->--'''Book 5, Chapter 28: Acts'''
->“Hate,” Akua repeated, tone pensive. “I can see why you would believe so.”
->“Are you claiming you don’t?” I asked.
->“I suppose I might kill him, given reason,” the shade said. “Though that would differ from duty only by the tinge of satisfaction that it would bring, like an old mistake finally blotted out.”
->“I was there, Akua,” I said. “I know what it did to you, when-”
->''She turned to me with burning eyes, and my tongue halted.''
->“My father’s death was the writ of many hands,” she said. “His, it is true, but others as well. The goblins who fired the crossbows. Your own, for serving as distraction while he was taken. But most of all, the fault is mine.”
->''She looked way.''
->“I waged war on villains, and did not sufficiently safeguard that which was precious to me,” Akua said. “I am the mother of that murder in every way that matters.”
->“There’s sense to that,” I replied. “Logic, even... And not a trace of the grief I saw then,” I finished.
->''She turned to meet my gaze, and for once there was anger not mastered or leashed in the cast of her face.''
->“What is it you want from me, Catherine?” the shade asked bitingly. “Tears? Lamentations? Or is it pain that you demand?”
->“Yes,” I said. “I want you to be in pain.”
->''She flinched back at that like I’d slapped her. Before a heartbeat had even passed, she was smiling and amused and her body beginning to angle so it would display her curves more prominently. I admired how well she’d been trained almost half as much as I utterly despised it.''
->“While I’ve certainly heard you prefer the rougher forms, I-”
->“If you’re in pain,” I continued, “if you can feel pain, I means you value things. People. That you begin to understand things other than yourself have value.”
->“I have always known that,” Akua said. “Your take on Praesi values, my heart, remains simplistic for all that we have spoken of the subject.”
->“Intellectually you assign value to other people,” I corrected. “For their usefulness, potential, the pleasure or amusement they can bring you. But that’s still thinking of them as assets. As objects. But if their loss pains you, Akua, they were more than an object to you.”
->“Should I weep, then?” the shade harshly replied. “Should I wail and beat my chest, swear revenge on all those who can be revenged upon? Should I burn half the world to assuage my grief, make Creation pay the long price?”
->“Would you like to?” I asked her softly. “Weep. Wail. Bury him with no honours of mine, but what you can offer from daughter to father.”
->“And what would you know of that, Catherine?” Akua said, sounding tired.
->''My eyes flicked back to the body laid out in front of us.''
->“I know,” I said, “that sometimes you grieve more what could have happened than what did.”
->“He shouldn’t have been born in Praes,” Akua said. “He’d be angry with me for saying that, but anywhere else on the continent they would have let him read in peace and deep down that was all he ever wanted. But in the Wasteland, when the Gift flowers so strongly there are expectations.”
->“He was powerful, I’m told,” I said. “Like few others.”
->“Like many others,” Akua softly denied. “But he was clever and found angles others did not even consider. But he was not of the old blood, so his fate was death or patronage. He could have been husband to my mother, you know. He had the talent for it and if he’d tried to establish a presence at her court he would at least have been made a formal consort. But it wasn’t in his nature, Catherine, to see magic as a tool for power. To him it wasn’t just the Gift, it was a gift.”
->“He’s the one who taught you,” I said.
->“I suppose he did,” Diabolist murmured. “Though it was never a lesson in the way my tutors would have made it. He was… sharing something he loved with me. Helping me understand it so we could wonder at it together. It made a difference. I could not help but love it as well, when it was something that was ours.”
->“I loved him,” Akua suddenly admitted. “But, in the end, not as much as I loved what my mother taught me to reach for.”
->''She chuckled barrenly.''
->“So how could I dare weep, dearest one, when I chose that ambition over him?” she said.
-->--'''Book 5, Chapter 28: Acts'''
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Added DiffLines:
->''"Note: bottling up the power of friendship cannot be achieved by bottling up friends. Must pursue further trials, perhaps prior liquefaction diluted the substance.”''
