“She began sobbing again. Im not ready to die.”

“But he couldnt risk taking the helmet off. It was the only thing saving him from the firing squad. He was no longer able to keep his thoughts silent. No longer able to squash his misgivings about w...”

“She began sobbing again. “I’m not ready to die.”

“But he couldn’t risk taking the helmet off. It was the only thing saving him from the firing squad. He was no longer able to keep his thoughts silent. No longer able to squash his misgivings about ...”

“But they promised us everyone would return someday…when it was safe.” Her voice cracked at the end.“You’re being stupid again. Trusting in what they say.” Disdain dripped from his words like pus fr...”

“He considered telling her that she could, and often, if she married him.”

“But in her heart she truly believed she was a better lady than Lady Dorothea ever was. Was it wrong to think she was nobler in her heart than the true nobleman's daughter?”

“If the only tool in Willem's arsenal was a silent supplication to an absent almighty, then I might as well be sitting next to a raving radical ready to die for the promise of seventy-two virgins an...”

“You matter.”

“It's taken me all this time, all this loss, to realize what really matters is now.”

“They filled our world with weapons aimed at foreheads and smiled as they shot 16 candles right through our future. They killed those strong enough to fight back and locked up the freaks who failed ...”

“Sara, we have to go," she whispers, even though my dad isn't there to hear her. She's not crying. She's calm. Matter-of-fact. As if she's asking me whether I want mayo or mustard on my sandwich. Ex...”

“The sky is deep, the sky is dark. The light of the stars is o damn stark/When I look up, I fill with fear, if all we have is what lies here, this lonely world, this troubled place, then cold dead s...”

“It is said that in death, all things become clear.”