Sifa Quotes

Sifa kubwa ya Murphy ni udadisi lakini kubwa zaidi ni unyamaume. Haogopi kitu. Anaheshimu sheria.

My mother took us there once,” Cyra was saying. “That’s where I learned to swim, in a special suit that protected against the cold. It might have come in handy on the last sojourn.” “Yes, you went to Pitha, didn’t you?” Sifa said. “You were there, weren’t you, Akos?” “Yes,” he said. “Spent most of my time there on an island of trash.

I have heard that you have a talent for death,” his mom said. At least Akos had warned Cyra about Sifa’s lack of charm.

I would stay and talk, but I have something I need to do.” Sifa shook her head. “It’s strange for me not to know what someone is deciding.” “Embrace the uncertainty,” I said.

Ijapokuwa maombi ya sifa yana nguvu kuliko maombi ya kushukuru, kushukuru kuna nguvu kuliko kuomba.

Maisha yangu ni darasa. Jifunzeni kutokana na maisha yangu, jifunzeni kutokana na sifa zangu za ushupavu, jifunzeni kutokana na sifa zangu za udhaifu, kutatua matatizo katika maisha yenu.

Of all the many futures I have seen, this is one of the stranger ones,” Sifa said. “And the one with the most potential for good and evil in equal measure.” “You know,” I said, “it might help if you would just tell me what to do.

Katika maisha watu wengi hawataki kukuona ukiendelea kwa sababu ukiendelea unakuwa kioo kwao. Ghafla wataanza kukutazama. Wanajua wana akili kama wewe, wamesoma kama wewe, au wana akili kuliko wewe, au wamesoma kuliko wewe, na labda wanazijua sifa zako za udhaifu na sifa zako za ushupavu toka utotoni kwako. Lakini ghafla unakuwa kioo, na wanapojitazama katika hicho kioo, wanajiona taswira zao isipokuwa sasa hawapo mahali ambapo wewe upo. Katika maisha watu watakushauri, watakufitini, watakurubuni na watakukatisha tamaa. Sema hapana kwa ndiyo nyingi kwa sababu hawaoni unachokiona, hawajui unachokifanya na hawajui unapoelekea. Unachokiona ni takdiri ya maisha yako, unachokifanya ni kupanda mbegu na kuzimwagilia kwa imani, na unapoelekea ni kileleni. Hivyo, songa mbele, kuwa wewe daima, wape muda, wape nafasi.

Marafiki zako wa mwanzo ambao bado ni marafiki zako mpaka sasa ni wazuri kuliko wote kutokana na sababu mbalimbali: Wamekuwepo pamoja nawe katika shida na raha; wanakujua vizuri unapokuwa na furaha, na wanakujua vizuri unapokuwa na huzuni; mmezoeana kwa miaka mingi na wanaujua hata utani wako wa ndani; wanajua nini unapendelea zaidi na nini hupendelei zaidi, na wanazijua sifa zako za ushupavu na sifa zako za udhaifu. Hata hivyo, katika maisha yetu, tunahitaji marafiki wa aina zote mbili kurahisisha maisha. Marafiki wapya hutuongezea viungo muhimu katika maisha yetu wakati marafiki wa mwanzo ni nguzo au miamba imara ya maisha yetu, na ndiyo watu hasa watakaotusaidia katika shida na raha! Usiwapoteze au usiwaache marafiki zako wa mwanzo lakini jenga mahusiano mapya. Marafiki zako wa mwanzo ni dhahabu, wa sasa ni fedha.

Don't doubt your dreams because dreams never laugh at you :)

Life is not like typing on the laptop where you can replace the false to the true. It's like writing on the paper, you can delete your mistakes but there always a mark.

I have heard that you have a talent for death,” his mom said. At least Akos had warned Cyra about Sifa’s lack of charm. He glanced at Cyra. She held her armored wrist against her gut. “I suppose I do,” she said. “But I don’t have a passion for it.” Vapor slipped from the nose of the water kettle, not yet thick enough for Akos to pour. Water had never boiled so slowly.

Maombi ya sifa huunganisha watu wa Mungu na hutayarisha njia kwa ajili ya uwezo wa Mungu katika maisha yetu. Thamani ya maombi ya sifa wakati wa matatizo ni kuimarisha imani yetu, na kuwa karibu na Mungu wetu. Mungu anataka tumpe sifa na kumshukuru kwa kila jambo, kama Mtume Paulo anavyosema katika waraka wa kwanza wa Wathesalonike 5:16-18. Kumshukuru Mungu wakati wa matatizo ni amri, si ombi.

Ship ID Renegade Transport, Captain Surukta requesting permission to land.” “Captain Surukta, permission granted to landing area thirty-two. Congratulations on your safe arrival,” a voice responded over the intercom. Teka snorted as she switched off the communicator. “I bet that’s standard practice, congratulating people on surviving.” “I’ve been here before,” Sifa said, wry. “It is indeed standard practice.

Three visions,” Sifa began. “In the first, we depart this place before daybreak, so no one sees us through that hole in the roof.” “But…you made that hole,” Teka interrupted. It figured she would reach the limits of her reverence so quickly, Akos thought. Teka didn’t seem to like nonsense. “If you knew we would have to leave because of it, you could have avoided making it in the first place.” “So glad you’re keeping up,” Sifa said, serene. Akos swallowed a laugh. A few seats down, Cisi seemed to be doing the same.

As he stood with his fingers in the iceflower bowls, he heard his mom and Cyra talking. “My son was eager for me to meet you, I could tell,” his mom said. “You must be a good friend.” “Um…yes,” Cyra said. “I think so, yes.” You think so, Akos thought, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. He’d given her clear enough labels, back in the stairwell, but she still couldn’t quite believe it. That was the problem with being so convinced of your own awfulness--you thought other people were lying when they didn’t agree with you. “I have heard that you have a talent for death,” his mom said. At least Akos had warned Cyra about Sifa’s lack of charm.

As he stood with his fingers in the iceflower bowls, he heard his mom and Cyra talking. “My son was eager for me to meet you, I could tell,” his mom said. “You must be a good friend.” “Um…yes,” Cyra said. “I think so, yes.” You think so, Akos thought, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. He’d given her clear enough labels, back in the stairwell, but she still couldn’t quite believe it. That was the problem with being so convinced of your own awfulness--you thought other people were lying when they didn’t agree with you. “I have heard that you have a talent for death,” his mom said. At least Akos had warned Cyra about Sifa’s lack of charm. He glanced at Cyra. She held her armored wrist against her gut. “I suppose I do,” she said. “But I don’t have a passion for it.” Vapor slipped from the nose of the water kettle, not yet thick enough for Akos to pour. Water had never boiled so slowly. “You two have spent a lot of time together,” his mom said. “Yes.” “Are you to blame for his survival these past few seasons?” “No,” Cyra said. “Your son survives because of his own will.” His mom smiled. “You should defensive.” “I don’t take credit for other people’s strength,” Cyra said. “Only my own.” His mom’s smile got even bigger. “And a little cocky.” “I’ve been called worse.” The vapor was thick enough. Akos grabbed the hook with the wooden handle that hung next to the stove, and attached it to the kettle. It caught, and locked in place as he poured water in each of the mugs. Isae came forward for one, standing on tiptoe so she could whisper in his ear. “If it hasn’t already, it should be dawning on you right about now that your girl and your mother are very similar people,” she said. “I will pause as that irrefutable fact chills you to the core.” Akos eyed her. “Was that humor, Chancellor?” “On occasion, I have been known to make a humorous remark.

As he stood with his fingers in the iceflower bowls, he heard his mom and Cyra talking. “My son was eager for me to meet you, I could tell,” his mom said. “You must be a good friend.” “Um…yes,” Cyra said. “I think so, yes.” You think so, Akos thought, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. He’d given her clear enough labels, back in the stairwell, but she still couldn’t quite believe it. That was the problem with being so convinced of your own awfulness--you thought other people were lying when they didn’t agree with you. “I have heard that you have a talent for death,” his mom said. At least Akos had warned Cyra about Sifa’s lack of charm. He glanced at Cyra. She held her armored wrist against her gut. “I suppose I do,” she said. “But I don’t have a passion for it.” Vapor slipped from the nose of the water kettle, not yet thick enough for Akos to pour. Water had never boiled so slowly. “You two have spent a lot of time together,” his mom said. “Yes.” “Are you to blame for his survival these past few seasons?” “No,” Cyra said. “Your son survives because of his own will.” His mom smiled. “You should defensive.” “I don’t take credit for other people’s strength,” Cyra said. “Only my own.” His mom’s smile got even bigger. “And a little cocky.” “I’ve been called worse.

He didn’t have to guide his mom toward Cyra. She saw her and walked straight to her. It didn’t make Cyra look any less scared. “Miss Noavek,” his mom said. There was a little catch in her throat. She tilted her head to see the silverskin on Cyra’s neck. “Oracle,” Cyra said, inclining her head. He’d never seen Cyra bow to anyone like she meant it before. One of the shadows bloomed over Cyra’s cheek and then spread into three lines of inky dark that ran down her throat like a swallow. He set his fingers on her elbow so she could shake his mother’s hand when she offered it, and his mom watched the light touch with interest. “Mom, Cyra made sure I got home last week,” he said. He wasn’t sure what else to say about her. Or what else to say, period. The blush that had chased him through childhood came creeping back; he felt it behind his ears, and tried to stifle it. “At great cost to herself, as you can see.” His mom looked Cyra over again. “Thank you, Miss Noavek, for what you’ve done for my son. I look forward, later, to finding out why.” With a strange smile, Sifa turned away, linking arms with Cisi. Cyra hung back with Akos, eyebrows raised. “That’s my mother,” he said. “I realize that,” she said. “You’re…” She brushed her fingers over the back of his ear, where his skin was heating. “You’re blushing.” So much for trying to stifle it. The heat spread to Akos’s face, and he was sure he was bright red. Shouldn’t he have grown out of this by now?

Binti yako mwenye umri wa miaka kumi na nne kwa mfano, anaomba umnunulie gari kama ulivyofanya kwa kaka yake mwenye umri wa miaka kumi na nane. Mara ya kwanza unamwambia utamnunulia atakapofikisha umri wa miaka kumi na nane kama ulivyofanya kwa kaka yake. Lakini baada ya wiki moja binti yako anakuomba tena kitu kilekile, yaani gari. Utajisikiaje? Utakereka, sivyo? Jinsi utakavyokereka binti yako kukuomba kitu ambacho tayari ameshakuomba, ndivyo Mungu anavyokereka sisi kumwomba vitu ambavyo tayari tumeshamwomba. Ukiomba kitu kwa mara ya kwanza Mungu amekusikia, tayari ameshaandaa malaika wa kukuletea jibu. Unachotakiwa kufanya, baada ya kuomba, shukuru mpaka jibu lako litakapofika. Mungu huthamini zaidi maombi ya kushukuru kuliko maombi ya kuomba. Binti yako anachotakiwa kufanya baada ya kukuomba gari ni kukushukuru mpaka gari yake itakapofika, si kukuomba mpaka gari yake itakapofika.

Mtu akikutukana mwambie asante. Akikupiga mwambie asante. Akiendelea kukupiga, pigana.

Mtu akikutukana mwambie asante au samahani. Asante au samahani vina nguvu kuliko kuomba (asikutukane) au kutukana.

Usitukane kamwe. Pigana itakapobidi.

Tovuti za miadi (‘dating sites’) hutumia ‘optimal stopping’ kuwachagulia watu wachumba wao. Wanachofanya ni kwamba wanachagua watu 100. Wanaondoa 37% ya kwanza ya wale ambao sifa zao haziendani na sifa unazozitaka. Kisha wanakuchagulia mtu waliyeona ni bora zaidi kuliko wote waliobakia. Huyo waliyekuchagulia anaweza kuwa mke au mume bora. Lakini Mungu ana mipango yake. Unaweza kushangaa mke au mume bora akatoka kwenye 37% ya wale walioachwa.

Katika maisha, kila mtu ni kiongozi na ni mfuasi pia kutegemeana na hali. Kiongozi hatakiwi kuwa na kiburi, wala hatakiwi kuwa na roho yenye kutakabari, roho ya jeuri na kuona wengine si kitu, kwa sababu kiburi na roho yenye kutakabari huleta maangamizi na maanguko makubwa katika jamii. Viongozi wa mataifa wana jukumu kubwa kwa sababu kama wataruhusu maadili yaanguke, nguvu zao zote za kijeshi na kiteknolojia hazitawasaidia. Sifa ya kwanza ya kiongozi ni kuwa na maadili mema.

Israeli ilifikia kikomo cha kipindi chake kikubwa cha mafanikio tangu enzi za Sulemani. Taifa lilikuwa tajiri. Lilikuwa na nguvu. Lilikuwa na silaha nyingi na nzuri zaidi. Lilikuwa taifa lililojidai kwa uwezo wake mkubwa wa nguvu za kijeshi, hekima, ujasiri, utajiri, na faida za kimkakati. Nani angeweza kushindana na Israeli? Lakini Mungu hunguruma onyo kwamba uwezo wote mkubwa wa asili wa taifa, ujuzi waliojipatia, na sifa bora zaidi havikuweza kulisaidia taifa la Israeli. Watu huona nguvu ya taifa katika utajiri wake, idadi yake ya watu, silaha za kijeshi, teknolojia, na maarifa. Lakini Mungu huangalia haki.

Luck,” Sifa said, “is simply a construct to make people believe they are in control of some aspect of their destinies.” Teka appeared to consider this, but Akos just rolled his eyes.

Are you Ryzek?” I said to Eijeh. Eijeh and Sifa both stared at me, blank. “When you first woke, you said ‘we.’ ‘We’ got lost in the future,” I said. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said. “Oh?” I stepped toward him. “So that wasn’t my delusional, egocentric brother referring to himself in the royal ‘we’?

Kereseth,”Aza repeated. “It’s funny--for the duration of this exile colony’s existence, we have never had a fated person pass through our doors. And now we have two.” “Four, actually,” I said. “Akos’s older brother Eijeh is…somewhere. And his mother, Sifa. They’re both oracles.” I cast a glance around for both of them. Sifa emerged from the shadows behind me, almost as if summoned by her name alone. Eijeh was a few paces behind her. “Oracles. Two oracles,” Aza said. She was finally startled, it seemed. “Aza,” Sifa said, nodding. She wore a smile intended, I was sure, to be inscrutable. I almost rolled my eyes.

Cyra took the topmost bed--they weren’t wide enough to fit two people, so there was no chance of sharing--because she was a good climber, and Teka, equally nimble, took the second highest. Sifa and Eijeh took the lower two beds in the stack, so Akos found himself right in the middle. Between two Thuvhesits and two Shotet. It was like fate had given up on subtlety and had decided to just start poking at him.

Sifa offered a toast, translating to Shotet from Thuvhesit: “To what we have done, what we are doing, and what we will do.” And I drank.

Sifa hadn’t been much of anywhere since Ryzek died, holing up in the belly of the ship to whisper the future to herself, barefoot, pacing. Cyra and Teka had been alarmed, but he told them that’s just how oracles were. Or at least, that was how his mother the oracle was. Sometimes sharp as a knife, sometimes half outside her own body, her own time.

Sifa had that look in her eyes, the one she got when she saw prophecies coming to life. It scared him. “I have always known what you would become, remember?” Sifa said quietly. “Someone who would always be stared at. You are what you need to be. Regardless, I love the person you were, the one you are, the one you will become. Understand?

Natafuta mwanamke mwenye utu, wema, uaminifu na tabia njema – sifa ambazo ataendelea kuwa nazo hata uzeeni. Sifa hizi zinaweza kubadilika kwa sababu ya maisha au kwa sababu ya mapenzi ya Mungu, lakini mabadiliko haya hayatakuwepo kwa haraka. Sura haidumu. Tabia hudumu.

Shetani alikuwa kiumbe mzuri kuliko wote mbinguni na ulimwenguni. Mungu alimpendelea. Alikuwa mzuri kuliko malaika wote na alikuwa na nguvu kuliko kiumbe mwingine yoyote yule aliyeumbwa na Mungu, akiwemo binadamu. Lakini alipotupwa kutoka mbinguni kuja duniani kama Adamu na Hawa walivyotupwa kutoka bustanini kuja duniani, Shetani alipoteza sifa yake. Alipoteza sifa yake kwa sababu ya dhambi aliyoitenda, dhambi ya kiburi, na kwa sababu ya kuwa mbali na utukufu wa mbinguni. Badala ya kuwa kiumbe mzuri kuliko wote, Shetani akawa kiumbe mbaya kuliko wote. Mungu akaahidi kutokumsamehe, kwa sababu yeye ndiye kiumbe wa kwanza kutenda dhambi mbinguni na ulimwenguni, kwani hakushawishiwa na mtu kumuasi Mungu.

Dikteta uchwara ni sifa nzuri au sifa mbaya? Tafakari. JPM ni kipenzi cha watu. Lissu ni kipenzi cha watu pia. Kupambana na kipenzi cha watu si kazi rahisi.

Dikteta uchwara ni sifa nzuri na Lissu analijua hilo kwa sababu yeye ni mwanasheria, na JPM analijua hilo kwa sababu yeye ni Rais wa nchi. Rais ni alama ya utulivu wa nchi. Hatima ya Lissu iko mikononi mwa JPM.

Rais wa Tume ya Dunia hakuchaguliwa kupata sifa ya madaraka na hivyo kunyanyasa na kudharau watu kwa sababu ya madaraka yake, bali alichaguliwa kuleta mabadiliko katika dunia kama Rais wa Tume ya Dunia kutetea afya na amani ya dunia nzima kwa unyenyekevu na heshima kwa binadamu wenzake.

Kiongozi wa wananchi au wa serikali hapaswi kuchaguliwa au kuteuliwa kwa ajili ya kupata sifa ya madaraka na hivyo kunyanyasa na kudharau watu kwa sababu ya madaraka yake, anapaswa kuchaguliwa au kuteuliwa kwa ajili ya kuleta mabadiliko katika nchi kama kiongozi wa dhima aliyokabidhiwa kwa unyenyekevu na heshima kwa wananchi wenzake.

Kusudi mimba itungwe lazima kuwepo na kromosomu X na kromosomu Y. Kromosomu ni nyuzinyuzi katika kiini cha seli zenye jeni au DNA, ambazo hubeba taarifa kuhusu sifa za kimaumbile zinazorithishwa kwa kiumbe hai kutoka kwa mama na baba wa kiumbe hicho. Kwa upande wa Yesu Kristo, katika hali ya kawaida, kromosomu X ilitoka kwa Maria Magdalena na kromosomu Y ilitoka kwa malaika Gabrieli. Yesu alikuwa Myahudi lakini Kristo ni Mungu. Yesu Kristo alikuwa binadamu kama sisi, lakini alikuwa na utukufu na alikuwa na damu ya Mungu iliyotakasika. Damu kama hiyo ndiyo inayotiririka katika miili ya kila mmojawetu ijapokuwa ni damu ya Adamu, ambayo bado haijatakaswa. Damu ya Yesu si kitu kidogo. Ilipomwagika msalabani ilifunika dunia nzima. Ndiyo maana tukasamehewa. Bila damu hiyo, bila utukufu huo wa Mungu, hakuna binadamu atakayeokolewa, hakuna pepo atakayeondolewa.

Of all the many futures I have seen, this is one of the stranger ones,” Sifa said. “And the one with the most potential for good and evil in equal measure.” “You know,” I said, “it might help if you would just tell me what to do.” “I can’t, because I honestly don’t know. We are at a murky place,” she said. “Full of confusing visions. Hundreds of murky futures spread out as far as I can see. So to speak. Only the fates are clear.” “What’s the difference?” I said. “Fates, futures . . .” “A fate is something that happens no matter what version of the future I see,” she said. “Your brother would not have wasted his time in trying to evade his fate if he had known that to be true, undoubtedly. But we prefer to keep our work mysterious, at the risk of it being too rigorously controlled.” I tried to picture it. Hundreds of twisting paths unfolding in front of me, the same destination at the end of each one. It made my own fate seem even stranger—no matter where I went, and no matter what I did, I would cross the Divide. So what? What did it matter? I didn’t ask her. Even if I thought she would tell me—she wouldn’t—I didn’t want to know. “The oracles of the planets meet yearly to discuss our visions,” Sifa said. “We mutually agree on what future is most crucial for each planet.

I didn’t suffer from a lack of fuel. The currentshadows had been so strong all my life, strong enough to render me incapable of attending a simple dinner party, strong enough to bow my back and force tears from my eyes, strong enough to keep me awake and pacing all through the night. Strong enough to kill, but now I understood why they killed. It wasn’t because they drained the life from a person, but because they overwhelmed it. It was like gravity—we needed it to stay grounded, alive, but if it was too strong, it formed a black hole, from which even light could not escape. Yes, the force of the current was too fierce for one body to contain— Unless that body was mine. My body, battered again and again by soldiers and brothers and enemies, but still working its way upright— My body, a channel for the pure force of current, the hum-buzz of life that brought others to their knees— Life is full of pain, I had told Akos, trying to draw him back from depression. Your capacity for bearing it is greater than you believe. And I had been right. I had had every reason to become closed off, wrapped up tight, pushing everything that resembled life and growth and power as far away from myself as possible. It would have been easier that way, to refuse to let anything in. But I had let Akos in, trusting him when I had forgotten how to trust, and I had let Teka in, too, and maybe one day, Sifa— I would let anyone in who dared draw near. I was like the planet Ogra, which welcomed anyone and anything that could survive life close to it. Not because I deserved pain, and not because I was too strong to feel it, but because I was resilient enough to accept it as an inevitability.

I watched Sifa and Yma approach the entrance guard from a distance. I was sure Yma’s tongue could be just as quick and persuasive as she needed to get into that amphitheater. She had spent her life lying, after all.

The soldiers who had shown Sifa into the arena fled, as if they could outrun a ship that large before the anticurrent blast hit. And perhaps there was no shame in that, in dying with hope. I hoisted myself over the barrier that separated me from the arena, and dropped neatly to the packed earth below. I didn’t know why, except that I didn’t want to be standing above the arena when the anticurrent blast hit. I wanted to be where I belonged: here, with grit in the soles of my boots, where people who loved to fight stood. And I loved to fight.

I stopped in the middle of the arena, within grasp of Sifa and Yma, but not touching them. I heard Teka’s light footfalls behind me. “Well,” Teka said. “I suppose it could be worse.” I would have laughed, if it had been any further from the truth. But for Teka and Yma and me, who had come so close to other, far more horrible ways of dying, I supposed dissolving into an anticurrent blast was not so bad.

Yes, the force of the current was too fierce for one body to contain-- Unless that body was mine. My body, battered again and again by soldiers and brothers and enemies, but still working its way upright-- My body, a channel for the pure force of current, the hum-buzz of life that brought others to their knees-- Life is full of pain, I had told Akos, trying to draw him back from depression. Your capacity for bearing it is greater than you believe. And I had been right. I had had every reason to become closed off, wrapped up tight, pushing everything that resembled life and growth and power as far away from myself as possible. It would have been easier that way, to refuse to let anything in. But I had let Akos in, trusting him when I had forgotten how to trust, and I had let Teka in, too, and maybe one day, Sifa-- I would let anyone in who dared draw near. I was like the planet Ogra, which welcomed anyone and anything that could survive life close to it.

My currentshadows shot up, up, up. They spread, building from the tendrils around my fingers to a column in the sky that wrapped my entire body in shadow-dark. I couldn’t see Teka or Sifa or Yma now, but I saw the great pillar of current that passed over and through me, toward that hatch that had opened in the Othyrian ship above. I didn’t see the anticurrent weapon, whatever its container looked like, but I did see the blast. The light spreading out from one fixed point, just as the shadow stretched upward from me. And where they collided: agony. I screamed, helplessly, as I had not screamed since I was too young to remember. The pain was so intense it shattered my pride, my reason, my sense of self. I heard the screaming and felt the scraping feeling of my own voice in my throat and the inferno inside me and around me, and saw the shadow and the light and the space where they met with a sharp clap. My knees buckled, and arms wrapped around my waist, thin, bony ones. A head pressed between my shoulder blades, and I heard Teka’s voice saying, “Hold on, hold on, hold on…” I had killed her uncle, her cousin, and in some ways, her mother, and still she stood behind me, keeping me upright. Hands wrapped around my arms, warm and soft, and the smell of sendes leaf floated over to me, the scent of Sifa’s shampoo. The dark eyes of the one who had abandoned me, and now returned for me-- And last, the strict, pale fingers of Yma Zetsyvis on my wrist. The current moved through all of us at once, my friend, my enemy, my mother, and me, all wrapped together in the darkness that was life itself.

I felt better--physically--in the next few days than I had since I was a child. Izit by izit, my strength returned, as I ate food prepared by Sifa, Yma, and Teka in the Zetsyvis kitchen. Yma burned the bottom of almost everything she made, and presented it without apology.

Eijeh thought it was likely,” she continued. “He’s only a beginner, but his intuition is strong. So we came to facilitate a particular path.” “Ah, you’re admitting to it this time?” I said, my arms crossed to disguise the clench of my hands. Akos’s fingertips touched one of my elbows, sending the pain away. I didn’t let myself look at him. “Yes,” Sifa said. Her hair was in a pile of curls on top of her head, a hatpin stuck through the middle of it so it stayed in place. The little jewels at the end of the pin glowed pale pink. “Come. We’re wanted elsewhere.” “Probably,” Eijeh qualified. “Probably,” Sifa repeated. “You’re not making me want to spend more time with oracles,” I said. Akos’s lips twitched into a smile. “And what a shame that is,” Eijeh replied drily. “Our loss, I’m sure.” I stared at him. I had never heard Eijeh Kereseth make a joke before, particularly not at my expense.

It is not an oracle’s job to answer questions like those,” Sifa said. “We have only one job, and that is to protect this galaxy. Sorting through the inconsequential information that other people find essential is not up to us.” “Oh, you mean inconsequential information like ‘You, my youngest son, you’re going to get kidnapped tomorrow’?” Cyra snapped. “Or ‘Isae Benesit is about to murder your brother, Cyra, so you may want to make your peace with him’?” Akos grabbed a handful of his own leg to steady himself. He wanted to tell Cyra not to use his pain as a weapon against his own mom; he wanted to tell his mom that Cyra had a point. But he felt so heavy with the hopelessness of it that he gave up before he started. “You demand to know things from the Ogran oracle that you will find out within the day,” Sifa snapped. “You’re angry that you aren’t told what you want to know exactly when you want to know it. What a frustrating existence you must find this, that it doesn’t meet your every need for you instantaneously!” Cyra laughed. “As a matter of fact, I do find it frustrating.

It is not an oracle’s job to answer questions like those,” Sifa said. “We have only one job, and that is to protect this galaxy. Sorting through the inconsequential information that other people find essential is not up to us.” “Oh, you mean inconsequential information like ‘You, my youngest son, you’re going to get kidnapped tomorrow’?” Cyra snapped. “Or ‘Isae Benesit is about to murder your brother, Cyra, so you may want to make your peace with him’?

You demand to know things from the Ogran oracle that you will find out within the day,” Sifa snapped. “You’re angry that you aren’t told what you want to know exactly when you want to know it. What a frustrating existence you must find this, that it doesn’t meet your every need for you instantaneously!” Cyra laughed. “As a matter of fact, I do find it frustrating.

I take it these insects are poisonous,” Akos said. His Adam’s apple bobbed with a particularly hard swallow. “Very,” Yssa said. “We keep them here because they are very bright when they fly.” “And they avoid anything that is a particularly strong conduit for the current,” Pary added. “Like…people. Most people.” Akos’s eyes closed. Frowning a little, I stepped forward. Pary grabbed my arm to stop me, but he couldn’t stand to touch me; his grip slipped, and I kept walking. Inching closer, and closer, until I was right in front of Akos, his warm breath against my temple. I lifted a hand to hover over the beetle on his face, and, for the first time, thought of my currentgift as something that might protect instead of injure. A single black tendril unfurled from my fingers--obeying me, obeying me--and jabbed the beetle in the back. The light inside it flaring to life, it darted away from him, and the others went with it. Akos’s eyes opened. We stared at each other, not touching, but close enough that I could see the freckles on his eyelids. “Okay?” I said. He nodded. “Stay close to me, then,” I said. “But don’t touch my skin, or you’ll turn us both into poisonous insect magnets.” As I turned around, I made eye contact with Sifa. She was giving me an odd look, almost like I had just struck her. I felt Akos behind me, staying close. He pinched my shirt between two fingers, right over the middle of my back. “Well,” Eijeh said. “That was exciting.” It was the sort of thing Ryzek might have said. “Shut up,” I replied, automatically

I had passed through the amphitheater’s arch on my way to challenge my brother. It had been simpler, then. A single enemy, a single path forward. Now, there were tyrants and chancellors and exiles and countless factions among the people who served each of them. And there was Akos. Whatever that meant. “Sifa said he’s not here,” Teka said to me. Like a mind reader. “Lazmet took him wherever they went. I know that’s not all that reassuring, but...better for him not to be hit by the blast, right?” It was. It meant that I could think clearly. But I didn’t want to admit to that. I shrugged. “I asked her for you,” Teka said. “I knew you’d be too proud to do it yourself.” “Time to go,” I said, ignoring her.

Cyra.” Teka’s voice again, fearful this time. I locked eyes with Sifa, standing in the center of the arena. Eijeh had decided the time of his vision based on the color of the light, he said. Well, with this ship shielding Voa from the sun, it looked very much like dusk. The attack was happening now. “I wouldn’t bother with the control room,” I said, surprised by how remote my own voice sounded to me.

The oracle’s coming,” Jorek said in a low voice. “It’s too late for you to bolt, sorry.” Akos sighed. “You’ve been avoiding me,” Sifa said matter-of-factly, as she plunked herself down in the seat across from his. His first instinct was to deny it, but that never worked with his mom. Once she decided she knew something, there was no point in arguing with her about it, even if she was wrong. Being an oracle doesn’t mean you know everything, he sometimes wanted to tell her. But that was something a child said. “That’s because you’re spending all your time with Eijeh doling out prophetic wisdom to the exiles,” he said. “And I’ve heard about all I can take from him. And prophecy. And wisdom in general.” Jorek snorted into his food.

I knew I had no place here, at this impromptu Kereseth reunion--which was probably orchestrated by the oracles, if Sifa and Eijeh’s presence meant what I thought it did. I moved to leave, meaning to disappear into the constant night, but Akos knew me too well. I felt the shock of his hand, pressing against the small of my back. It was brief, but it sent a shiver through me. Do that again, I thought. Never do that again, I also thought. “Sorry,” he said, in low Shotet. “But--would you stay?” Behind him, Cisi and Sifa embraced, Sifa’s hand running over Cisi’s curls with a tenderness I remembered from my own mother. Akos’s gray eyes--set now in a face more sallow than it had any right to be--begged me to stay. I had distracted myself from him in the week since the attack, refusing most of the comfort he offered, unless it was in the form of a painkiller. I couldn’t let myself stay close to him now, knowing that he was only here because of his own fatalism. He made me weak, though. He always had.

Come. We’re wanted elsewhere.” “Probably,” Eijeh qualified. “Probably,” Sifa repeated. “You’re not making me want to spend more time with oracles,” I said. Akos’s lips twitched into a smile.

Thuvhe is the greater threat to you,” she said. “And we should just trust you?” I said. “Without knowing what your aim is?” “You will speak to the oracle with respect,” Aza scolded. “The oracle’s job is to work for the best future for our planet,” I said. “But whose best future is that, exactly? Thuvhe’s, or Shotet’s? And if it’s Shotet’s, then is it the best path for the Shotet exiles, or the Noavek loyalists?” “Are you suggesting I have given preferential treatment to Thuvhe thus far?” Sifa scowled at me. “Trust me, Miss Noavek, I could have buried the fates of your family, and told the other oracles to deny them as well, if I had thought it would result in the best future for our planet. But I didn’t. Instead, I allowed your family to use their new ‘fate-favored’ status to justify seizing control of Shotet government. My lack of intervention is why your family ever came into power in the first place, because it was what needed to be done, so do not think to accuse me of favoritism!” Well. She had a point. “If you all ignore my father now,” I said, “you will regret it. You will.” “Is that a threat, Miss Noavek?” the bearded man demanded. “No!” Nothing was coming out right.

Ettrek deboarded first, greeting a man with black hair long enough to brush his shoulders with a clasped hand. When I moved closer, I realized they had to be brothers, maybe even twins. “Wow, you weren’t kidding,” the brother said. “Cyra fucking Noavek is with you.” “How did you know my middle name?” I said. He smiled, and offered me a hand. “My name is Zyt. Short for something so long I don’t even remember it myself. I’m Ettrek’s older brother.” “You probably don’t want to shake my hand,” I said. “You’re welcome to shake Teka’s twice, though.” “Don’t volunteer me for extra handshakes,” Teka said. “Hi. Teka Surukta.” “Here are some oracles,” I said, gesturing behind me to Eijeh and Sifa. Zyt raised his eyebrows.

When we were tucked away inside the huge space, Ettrek turned to me. “You know, it took a lot out of me, breaking all those jars,” he said. “The least you could do is not look so angry at being rescued.” Now that we were safe, I let myself break. This time, I fell apart shouting. “I had him! I was on the verge of killing him! And you decided to rescue me?” Sifa emerged from a stairwell, her hands clasped in front of her. Had she known that we would fail? I didn’t even want to consider the idea. “Killing him!” Ettrek’s hair was dusted with dirt, like sugar on top of a cake. “You were about to plunge a currentblade in your own stomach!” “These currentshadows aren’t only good for making me flinch a lot, you know.” I charged toward him, crushing a patch of fragile flowers under the heel of my shoe. “I had him wrapped in them. I would have killed him.” “Maybe not before he killed you,” Ettrek said quietly. “And?” I demanded. He retreated, his back colliding with Zyt’s chest, and I said, “When someone asks you to trade the chance of Lazmet Noavek’s death for the life of Ryzek’s Scourge…” and then shouted, “…you do it!

The current is a creative energy, and the anticurrent is its opposite. Where the two collide, a…strong force results.” I snorted. Strong force, indeed. Yssa stepped out of the hatch, then, edging around Sifa. She ran toward Ettrek, hugging him, then Teka, and then me--quickly, and with wincing, but still, a hug. “You lived,” she said, breathless. “Speak for yourself,” I said. “I’m just an apparition.” “If that was true, it would likely not hurt to touch you,” she said, without a trace of humor. I glanced at Teka, who shrugged.

Of all the many futures I have seen, this is one of the stranger ones, Sifa said. And the one with the most potential for good and evil in equal measure.

I had had every reason to become closed off, wrapped up tight, pushing everything that resembled life and growth and power as far away from myself as possible. It would have been easier that way, to refuse to let anything in. But I had let Akos in, trusting him when I had forgotten how to trust, and I had let Teka in, too, and maybe one day, Sifa. I would let anyone in who dared draw near. I was like the planet Ogra, which welcomed anyone and anything that could survive life close to it. Not because I deserved pain, and not because I was too strong to feel it, but because I was resilient enough to accept it as an inevitability.

YOU HAVE TO FIND ways to ground yourself,” Sifa said to us. “Or the visions will take over. You’ll get stuck in all the possibilities and you won’t be able to live a life.” We answered, “Would it be so bad? To live a thousand different lives instead of your own?

YOU HAVE TO FIND ways to ground yourself,” Sifa said to us. “Or the visions will take over. You’ll get stuck in all the possibilities and you won’t be able to live a life.” We answered, “Would it be so bad? To live a thousand different lives instead of your own?” She narrowed her eyes at us, this woman who was our mother, an oracle, and a stranger all at once. We had ordered the death of her husband; we had suffered the loss of that man ourselves. How odd it was, to be responsible for so much pain, and to have suffered as a direct result of that responsibility, all at once. As our identities melded more and more, we felt more profoundly the contradictions inherent in our being. But there was nothing to be done about it; the contradictions existed, and had to be embraced. “Whatever made you, made you for a purpose,” she said. “And it wasn’t to become a vessel for other people’s experiences; it was to have your own.” We shrugged, and that’s when the images came.