He was an indecent man, I told myself - prayerfully - and then I prayed for him to become decent.

— Kelsey Brickl

In August, an inescapable blanket of heat settled over Padua, the last gasping breath of summer roaring its weight out over the populace.

— Kelsey Brickl

It was a tribute to Raphael that lesser artists wanted to copy his work, but this… this was a travesty. The fresco consisted of Galatea’s apotheosis, wherein she is surrounded by mythical creatures. A beautiful scene, with all the potential in the world, but very poorly executed here. Galatea herself looked vapid and empty. The rest of the painting indicated pure ignorance on the part of the painter. I shook my head in confusion. The giant Polyphemus was depicted with two normal eyes, when clearly he ought to have but one. Triton, for his horn, was using not a shell but an actual trumpet of brass. I nearly laughed aloud at that observation; would not such an instrument be completely destroyed by seawater? Who the devil had painted this monstrosity?

— Kelsey Brickl

It wasn’t that Nell was weak. It was that the world was dangerous.

— Kelsey Brickl

I was scarcely the first, nor the only current, girl of impressive derivation to be unceremoniously thrust through the iron gate at the entrance of Le Curate by parents whose aspirations for their daughters did not include marriage. Our paths to the convent were varied, but no matter. We all wound up in the same habit.

— Kelsey Brickl

Pick a side? You're done picked the wrong side.

— Kelsey Brickl

Praying to the Almighty, Avert?” called a voice, and Avert opened his eyes to see Rousseau and Leclerc smirking at him. Avert tipped his head and said to the others,"If I was, it would be awfully rude to interrupt my prayer, don’t you think? But, no, Leclerc. I find no solace in speaking with an imaginary puppeteer.” Rousseau, who was twenty-five and utterly dim of mind, frowned at Avert’s words. Avert rolled his eyes and sighed,"I don’t pray.

— Kelsey Brickl

She was an afterthought, little Martha. She was treated the way many families treated pet dogs - she had to be fed and cleaned sometimes, but she was left to her own devices for the most part.

— Kelsey Brickl

Sometimes a revolution turns into an actual government, or at the very least an actual way of life that contrasts with days past like blood on snow. Such was the case in France, where even as the guillotine released a steady river of gore, Royalist insurrections were suppressed by what had become a sophisticated military. In Toulon, the Royalist insurrection in 1793 led to an actual siege by republicans, spearheaded by none other than Napoleon Bonaparte. The Royalists in Toulon, supported by the British and Spanish, were feared by the republicans as an existential threat to every hope and promise of the revolution. For months there were bombardments, cannon fire that made the windows in the prison tremble.

— Kelsey Brickl

The ground had opened up and spit out hell, Nell thought, and the detritus was Shiloh.

— Kelsey Brickl