~The ghostly light of the waning moon shimmered on the skin of the sea, creating an endless road. To Laila, it beckoned with promise. Seduction. "May I want?" she whispered, borrowing her daughter's phrase.~

~The need to keep secrets was as much a part of the village as the stones it was built on.~

~A weaver's magic cannot be forced.~

~Please know that I, too, have lost.~

~Her mother had whispered in her ear two of the vows sea-weavers must make: first, do not harm; second, never accept coin for the art.~

~No gift is truly for free.~

(Yes, I wrote it. Biased.)