"You would be," he granted.
"Why would I be?"
"You belong to the 'Friends of Fate,' as some poet called them. Some of us struggle against Fate, some of us make it an ally. You would do that."
"But Fate, so far, has been my friend."
"Those long lonely years of work by yourself?"
"But I needed them. I learned everything of value that I know, during those years."
"You see, I spoke truly," he smiled, nodding at her.
"You meet life that way, too," she said.
"I've met it all ways, my friend, fighting, acquiescent, not always with valour. Now I have come to a time when I depend upon an armour, which fends off outside troubles, but also keeps in those I already have."
"No one could understand human beings so well, could possess your fierceness and your mercy toward them, without holding the key to suffering."