“When the souls rise up in glory,
yours shall not be shunned nor sundered,
but shall be the prize of the gods' gardens.
Even your darkness shall be treasured then,
and all your pain made holy.”
Your Father calls you to His Court.
You need not pack;
you go garbed in glory as you stand.
He eagerly awaits by His palace doors to welcome you,
and has prepared a place at His high table by His side,
in the company of
the great-souled,
honored,
and best-beloved.
-Ista, Paladin of Souls, Lois McMaster Bujold
The old kings had two tasks:
to lead their men to battle and to lead them home again.
Horseriver lost sight of the second, I think,
in his black madness and despair.
These warriors of the Old Weald-
their duty to their king is done;
there remains only their king's duty to them.
-Ingrey, The Hallowed Hunt, Bujold
