wait, you should know, I...I love you.""I loved you first, Miss Blackwater.

The smithy handed me my new sword-a rapier. As rapiers went, it was the runt of the litter-a simple handle with barely and guard, matte grey blade, and seeming to dull the longer I looked at it. But it was mine. And even the most unimpressive sword can leave an impressive wound when in the hands of a practiced master.

blowing up three hundred Parliament members and the king of England wasn't restoration. It was death with no phoenix to rise out of it.

My train of thought felt rebellious, but also... organic. Cleansing. Like that was what men were supposed to do. Be seekers of the answers and the truth. To be above the influence and opinions of the outspoken.

The best place to hide an item was on your person. But when you couldn't manage that, the next best place was to hie it in plain view. People searched there last.

I breathed in the safety that came from a hidden secret.

A coward I might be, but at least I was a free one.

With his mask and my sword, we could subdue even the shadows.

We understood that being left in the dark was far more despairing than dealing with the weight of the darkness.

But a man can be both soft and strong, maintaining a hope for the world.