Without a Light I See
Chapter Eight
(Jelnaya)

…
That statement took me by surprise, so I could not help but retort, “What, Heroyu? What must the king know?”

“Why your betrothal to Prince Potorly.”

“There is no betrothal, Heroyu. I mean, how many men have come seeking my hand? Let me say that he does get my reports. The king speaks of laughing at what I had to say about those seeking my hand.”

“The status of Potorly’s mother does have weight, Honored Duchess. At the moment you are betrothed to the man.”

Without a Light I See
Chapter Seven
(Potorly)

…
“I am a queen, Potorly. I had my duties.” She then spoke of the part I was interested in. “Your father is noble as well, but had the lesser responsibility. I felt it was best that he raised you, and he did provide you with a good life.”

“So you felt you could ignore your duties of a mother? Why should I believe you?”

“I always felt you would be glad to finally realize your true worth.”

“Obviously not a very wise queen.”

Without a Light I See
Chapter Six
(Jelnaya)

…
“Gaunts are creatures of complete darkness. Any light keeps them from existing, and we were fighting during the day.”

“I was seeking Emperor Ferrigote, Honored Duchess, so just made assumptions from the stories he told of other worlds.”

Considering I had made a wrong decision in the combat with the creatures as well, I went ahead and allowed the conversation to move along. “And how were you able to come here?”

“The emperor left some items saying they could be used to come to him. Almost all were confiscated and placed in secure vaults. One was actually held by the nobles of my homeland, and it was entrusted to me.”

Without a Light I See
Chapter Five
(Potorly)

…
Just wanting to say something, I found nothing better than to ask, “Did you always like to fight, Honored Duchess?”

“If not, I would not have this life. Actually, I wanted to be like my Grandfather Terish. He is deadly, but that is not really how people think about him. I want the same for me. While I do promote Fergush, I like the fact that others will see me in a different light.”

“Like a wife and mother?”

Without a Light I See
Chapter Four
(Jelnaya)

…
Curious, I looked to the men and asked, “What are we fighting?”

One of the two replied, “Fear.”

“It’s doing a bad job. I’m not scared. Are you?”

The other man answered, “Scared of dropping from fatigue.”

Without a Light I See
Chapter Three
(Potorly)

…
Again trying to send Genorll on, I said, “You’ve proven yourself a good man. More than willing to help you, so let me get to work. Go back to the other men and your animals.”

“Hard to tell which is which at times.”

“I’ll leave you to it. Let me handle this.”

Without a Light I See
Chapter Two
(Potorly)

…
“Nowhere. I told them I would move on, or else I might go back there.”

Sensing part of the reason I was summoned, I asked another question. “How can you go somewhere if you are standing still?”

“It chases me. I have fought it, and fought it, and I won’t make you fight it. I will leave.”

“Hold it. I told you I was the guy that does good deeds. Now, are you just running, or do you actually have a destination?”

Without a Light I See
Chapter One
(Jelnaya)

…
From a distance I heard another man sound out, “PROVE IT!”

The one that contacted me asked, “Did you ever have one of those days, Honored Jelnaya?”

I asked my own question, “Do you mean whether I had to decide if I actually had any honor? Not in a long time.”

People in the Mist
Chapter Thirty-Five

…
I then asked, “Nassenor, do you really want that sword?”

It pleased me to hear, “Definitely, Vernallor!”

“Then come get it!”

Melarintha looked to me and said, “I have been waiting for one of you to do that.”

People in the Mist
Chapter Thirty-Four

…
After again attempting to overcome the pain of trying to have her body work against the sword, I saw her glare at me while asking, “What are you looking at?”

I replied, “The short answer is you.”

“You’re all dead.”

“Obviously not at the moment. The trick right now is to survive a few more.”