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“All religions want the same thing-salvation. We're all the same.”
― Laura Thalassa, War

“Loss is a wound that never heals. Never never never. It scabs over, and for a time you can almost forget it’s there, but then something—a smell, a sound, a memory—will split that wound right open, and you’ll be reminded again that you’re not whole. That you’ll never fully be whole again.”
― Laura Thalassa, War

“All creatures can experience pestilence, famine, and death—but war, true war, that is a singularly human experience.”
― Laura Thalassa, War

“I saw you, and for the first time, I wanted.â€� His words pucker my flesh. “And so, I took.”
― Laura Thalassa, War

“That was my first lesson in war: everyone loses, even the victors.”
― Laura Thalassa, War

“You are painfully human. Your bones want to break, your skin wants to bleed, your heart wants to stop. And for the first time ever, I am desperate for none of those things to happen. I have never known true fear until now.”
― Laura Thalassa, War

“It’s hard to remember what you loved without also remembering what you hated.”
― Laura Thalassa, War

“Behind me, I hear War rise. Then, the ominous sound of his footfalls. He comes right up to me.
"For your soft heart.”
― Laura Thalassa, War

“But not everything is normal. After all, there's no indictation that religion exits here. Granted, I've only been at camp for a day, so maybe I just need to be patient. However, so far there have been no calls for prayer and no public sermons. I haven't seen anything that indicates which god â€� if anyâ€� these people believe in. The only signs of religion that I have seen are the few religious items that people wear on themselves. Other than that, it's as though God doesn't exist.”
― Laura Thalassa, War

“My wife and her soft heart," War says. It sounds like a genuine compliment.”
― Laura Thalassa, War

“No,â€� I say, my eyes meeting his in the near-darkness. “Not love itself.â€� Everything I’ve ever loved I’ve lost. There’s no beauty in that. “It’s the power of love that I find beautiful.â€� It can change so many things—For better, or worse.”
― Laura Thalassa, War

“I don’t want to be awake when you’re asleep. Talking with you reminds me of how lonely it is to exist.”
― Laura Thalassa, War

“God didn't send me a wife," he says under his breath. "He sent me my reckoning.”
― Laura Thalassa, War

“War glances at me. “Is everything alright?â€� I nod a little too quickly. “I’m fine.â€� He stares at me for a beat longer, then faces forward again. “Over the course of human existence, your kind has come up with hundreds of thousands of words for everything imaginable, yet somehow none of you have figured out how to actually speak your mind.”
― Laura Thalassa, War

“Oh man, step one is some asshole claiming you’re his wife, and step two, shit suddenly gets real.”
― Laura Thalassa, War

“Why do you think I’m your wife?â€� I say. War’s eyes flick to just beneath my chin. “I don’t ‘thinkâ€� it,â€� he says. “I know it.â€� Chills. There it is, that certainty. You’d think that if I was supposed to make a husband out of War, I’d know it too. “If I’m your wife, why don’t I sleep in the same tent as you?â€� I say. “And why don’t—â€� I stop myself before I can say more. The horseman glances at me. Now I’ve caught his interest. “Go on,â€� he says. “Tell me, Miriam, all about the rest.â€� I don’t. “Why don’t I fuck you raw and feast on your pussy and keep you chained to my bed like a proper husband?â€� he finishes for me. Chained to the bed like a proper husband? I glance over at him. “Who the hell educated you on marriage?â€� Seriously, what the fuck? Forget God. This dude has to be a demon. War takes one look at my face and laughs. “Is that not what proper husbands do?”
― Laura Thalassa, War

“You’re wrong if you think that angers me.â€� His smile is menacing. “Everything you are has been made for me.”
― Laura Thalassa, War

“Your kind has not been made wrong," War says cryptically, "but you have all collectively chosen wrong.”
― Laura Thalassa, War

“The phobos rider turns more fully to face me. “Husband and wife pitted against one another—now that’s the true war.â€� He backs away. “I’m interested to see who will win.”
― Laura Thalassa, War

“because he looks annoyingly pleased. His eyes are like honey when he says, “Stay with me, Miriam.â€� His hand flexes against my side. “Sleep in my tent. Make your weapons. Argue with me.”
― Laura Thalassa, War

“Loss is a wound that never heals. Never never never. It scabs over, and for a time you can almost forget it’s there, but then something—a smell, a sound, a memory—will split that wound right open, and you’ll be reminded again”
― Laura Thalassa, War

“My child has been in you that entire time. No wonder you’ve been so bloodthirsty.â€� Oh God.”
― Laura Thalassa, War

“That’s not how marriage works,â€� I say, trying to simmer my emotions back down. “At least, not a good marriage—and you want this to be a good marriage, don’t you?â€� Why am I even trying to reason with him? He gives me a long look. “Of course I do, wife.â€� “Then you need to listen to me and you need to respect my opinions.â€� It’s the two most obvious rules of marriage, and yet War is completely unaware of them. “And you need to respect my will,â€� he fires back. “As my wife, you should be obedient the few times I demand it of you.â€� Obedient? I’m seeing red. “Fuck it. I want a divorce.â€� “No.”
― Laura Thalassa, War

“A monster of a man sits on his blood-red steed, a massive sword strapped to his back. There are gold rings in his dark hair and kohl thickly lines his eyes. His cheekbones are high and the scowl he wears makes him look absolutely petrifying.”
― Laura Thalassa, War

“Every single waking second of my day consists of me trying to be brave when all I really want to do is shit myself and hide.”
― Laura Thalassa, War

“Being with you makes me feel as though I have swallowed the sun. Everything is brighter, fuller, better because of you.”
― Laura Thalassa, War

“Revenge and justice are one and the same,”
― Laura Thalassa, War

“Loss,â€� he says. He’s quiet for a moment. “It’s one of the most common aspects of war, and yet I’ve never experienced it.â€� “You better hope you never do,â€� I say, thinking of my family all over again. Loss is a wound that never heals. Never never never. It scabs over, and for a time you can almost forget it’s there, but then something—a smell, a sound, a memory—will split that wound right open, and you’ll be reminded again that you’re not whole. That you’ll never fully be whole again.”
― Laura Thalassa, War

“Anyone but me enters this tent,â€� he says, nodding to the tent flaps, “you gut them.â€� Said like a man who knows his way around a good murder.”
― Laura Thalassa, War

“Miriam Elmahdy’s Guide to Staying the Fuck Alive: (1) Bend the rules—but don’t break them. (2) Stick to the truth. (3) Avoid notice. (4) Listen to your instincts. (5) Be brave.”
― Laura Thalassa, War