§ I will never learn to like it when Sen suddenly takes over the [Blood Effigy] to make me do or say things like a puppet, but I had to accept that I was out of my depth in this case, and she needed to. Still, when I got a moment, while the fairy knights and the Reladorian mages huddled …

§ It was true that Shindzha’s safety trumped my dislike of acting as a puppet for the gods, and perhaps my elder incarnations, but I was still quite annoyed. I had a right to be! Shindzha was here rather than safe and sound in her cell in Narses due to the meddling of the older incarnations, and now, the reason …

§ I watched in rapt wonder as the horizon gradually expanded into a thin blue arc and the sky above turned to night. The thought nibbled at me that I had seen this site before, although I couldn’t say when. This was not the strange magic projection I beheld from my bed while using [Blood Presence]. Even though I could …

§ I have grown accustomed to the idea that the blood bond makes my Servants a little bit too thirsty. The anti-charm bracelet supposedly helps them counter the effect, but some of them choose to be thirsty anyway. Apparently, it only gives them the option to change their mind.  It seems it’s up to me to encourage them to exercise …

§ The negotiations remained largely meaningless throughout the time that Lhan and Brigitte were at their task. We made no progress until after the two fatalities were back in the care of their brothers in arms. And unfortunately, the only progress we did make in the end was to agree to a short recess. That’s a mischaracterization, I suppose. I …

§ I blew air out through puffed up cheeks, hoping it didn’t ‘show insecurity’ like all the other things Sen wants me to not do. She wanted ‘Miss Hiléa’ to be a confident adventurer. <It’s questionable behavior, but I’ll let it pass,> my adviser commented with amusement. It was just my relief at having finished the spell with the ogress …

§ Many times since the day I awoke to my strangely changed world, having lost three months of what by all reports would have been some remarkable memories, I have been plagued with strange feelings, half-remembered recollections that didn’t fit into the life I knew. Lydia warns me when I reflect too much on them that they are dangerous ‘leaks’ …

§ If the captain had not insisted upon me taking a companion, I could have just used the immaterial form of the [Blood Effigy] and instantly reached the stricken soldier. But I had no time, and I couldn’t show my irritation without explaining my reasons, so I agreed to it. But I rejected the SAS trooper who was going to …

§ The fighting was on hold for the moment. Almost all of us had retreated to catch our breath. But up in the air, the three-way standoff continued a staring contest of sorts, reduced to the three principal combatants as their subordinates regrouped and recovered. For our side, the representative was Lady Serera, and of course, Lady Domerà represented our …

§ I had the maids dress me for a return to bed. I obviously couldn’t wear the Atian fashion with its many petticoats, which would look and feel ridiculous if I were lying on my back, and Lydia felt the Dorian fashion was too restrictive, the way it wraps the female body so tightly. She wanted me to be able …