The Witch's Heart Quotes

“There is a difference between understanding and forgiveness. It’s possible to have one without the other.”
― Genevieve Gornichec, The Witch's Heart

“The ending doesn’t matter. What matters is how we get there. To face what’s ahead with as much dignity as we can muster and make the most of the time we have left.”
― Genevieve Gornichec, The Witch's Heart

“They say a witch used to live in these woods, a long long time ago,” she began. And this is what the little girl would tell her children and what they would tell their children long after the ones who came before were gone. “They say an old witch lived in the east, in Iron Wood. And there, she bore the wolves who chase the sun and moon. They say she went to Asgard and was burned three times upon a pyre and three times she was reborn before she fled. They say she loved a man with scarred lips and a sharp tongue; a man who gave her back her heart and more. They say she loved a woman too, a sword-wielding bride of the Gods; as bold as any man and fiercer still. They say she wandered, giving aid to those who needed it most, healing them with potions and spells. They say she stood her ground against the fires of Ragnarok, until the very end, until she was burned a final time. All but her heart reduce to ashes once more. But others say she lives yet.”
― Genevieve Gornichec, The Witch's Heart

“It doesn’t really matter where we came from, does it? We’re here now. We’re ourselves. What more can we be?”
― Genevieve Gornichec, The Witch's Heart

“My heart is so much more than it once was, even if it now beats outside my chest.”
― Genevieve Gornichec, The Witch's Heart

“Guilt is a heavy thing, Mother Witch, she said. It's best left behind if you want to move forward.”
― Genevieve Gornichec, The Witch's Heart

“Loki asking if he could talk was much like a fish asking if it could swim while in the act of doing so.”
― Genevieve Gornichec, The Witch's Heart

“I would have all of you,” he said quietly, brushing her nose with his. “I would have everything.”
― Genevieve Gornichec, The Witch's Heart

“Loki may have loved you, if he could. But all he ever brought for you was pain. You know it. We both know it. I wished to be more for you, Angrbodr. So much more. I loved you then, I love you now. I will love you until I die. And even after. Whatever comes then, I will love you still. Even though you're a fool, and you've used me the same way Loki has used you. But I suppose that makes me a fool as well.”
― Genevieve Gornichec, The Witch's Heart

“There is a reason I will not be by your side during your torment. And that reason is you.”
― Genevieve Gornichec, The Witch's Heart

“Guilt is a heavy thing, Mother Witch, she said. It’s best left behind if you want to move forward.”
― Genevieve Gornichec, The Witch's Heart

“You’re smiling,” he pointed out, surprised. Angrboda’s expression went blank again, and she demurred. “Was I?” “Yes.” “Hmm.” “I’d like to make you do it again.” “I’d like to see you try.”
― Genevieve Gornichec, The Witch's Heart

“We're odd. She's odd. She fits right in, does she not?”
― Genevieve Gornichec, The Witch's Heart

“I just figured you might want to make an exception for these particular feelings, bothersome though they may be, because they're about you." Angrboda stared at him, he stared back at her and, for once, he seemed to be absolutely serious. "What? I care for you as well," he said, "as much as I hate to admit it. Caring about things makes life for complicated doesn't it. Best not to care about anything at all in my opinion. And then you came along. I find it quite bothersome indeed.”
― Genevieve Gornichec, The Witch's Heart

“I can’t believe,” he went on, “that you would besmirch my good name by implying that I’m an oath-breaker-”

“I would have to know your name in order to besmirch it, would I not?”

“You’re besmirching the idea of my good name.”

“The idea of your name itself, or the idea that it’s a good name?”

He blinked at her and mouthed the word Oh.”
― Genevieve Gornichec, The Witch's Heart

“It's not fair to them. They didn't do anything to deserve this. This isn't the way things are supposed to be.'
Something tingled at the very edge of her consciousness: small but sharp, like a pinprick.
'Oh, but maybe it is,' said a voice, so soft that it seemed to be echoing from the deepest recesses of her mind. It was achingly familiar, like something out of a dream she'd forgotten long ago. 'The question is, what are you going to do about it?'
'Nothing. I can't do anything, I'm no one. I'm nothing. Just a sad old witch who's had everything taken from her. Betrayed by her husband. Deprived of her children. Forsaken by all.'
'Not all,' the voice replied. 'You know this. Even now, she calls you back. Do you hear her?”
― Genevieve Gornichec, The Witch's Heart

“You, the wise old witch in the woods, doing no harm so that no harm will come to you. You forget that your enemies strike first, and they strike harder, and they do not give you the same respect that you give them.”
― Genevieve Gornichec, The Witch's Heart

“I meant what I said, you know. You're going to break my heart.”
― Genevieve Gornichec, The Witch's Heart

“Before you came along I wasn't sure if I could love, either," she said, and tried not to sound as resentful as she felt. Then she softened those words by adding, "I had always been fine alone. And I still am. But I'm better when you're here.”
― Genevieve Gornichec, The Witch's Heart

“I think you were the reason I figured I might be able to love someone," he said. "Why would I give you back your heart only to break it? I suppose that must mean something, right?”
― Genevieve Gornichec, The Witch's Heart

“That's because I love you, and you love me. And even as I speak these words now, they terrify me, but I know them to be true. More than anything else, I know this. And so do you.”
― Genevieve Gornichec, The Witch's Heart

“Grant a dead woman's last wish,' Skadi whispered when they finally pulled apart, placing a trembling hand on either side of the witch's face, 'and let me share your bed, truly share it, this night and every night until the end.”
― Genevieve Gornichec, The Witch's Heart

“We're both fools,' Angrboda's heart swelled in her chest. 'Things could have been so different..."
'Things can still be different,' Skadi said fiercely, leaning in close, squeezing her hands.
'But the ending remains the same,' Angrboda whispered back.
'The ending doesn't matter. What matters is how we get there. To face what's ahead with as much dignity as we can muster and make the most of the time we have left.”
― Genevieve Gornichec, The Witch's Heart

“You were a sacrifice, too. What did you learn while you were tied to your tree, Mother Witch? What did you bring back with you that you didn't have before?”
― Genevieve Gornichec, The Witch's Heart

“Where have you been all this time, Mother? Where have you been while I rotted?”
― Genevieve Gornichec, The Witch's Heart

“You are not training our son to eat anyone.” “I hear your nagging tone, but not the words you’re saying.”
― Genevieve Gornichec, The Witch’s Heart

“For she did not know that she was capable of experiencing such happiness.”
― Genevieve Gornichec, The Witch's Heart

“I loved you then. I love you now. I will love you until I die.”
― Genevieve Gornichec, The Witch's Heart

“There is a difference between understanding and forgiveness. It's possible to have one without the other.”
― Genevieve Gornichec, The Witch's Heart

“I wonder what it feels like," she whispered, "to have someone to come home to.”
― Genevieve Gornichec, The Witch's Heart