“Pain goes away eventually,” he says. “Death is permanent.”

He’s watching me with clear astonishment. As he should. I am power and beauty. I am song and water. I rule the sea and all creatures within it.

I know he was playing a part. Pretending to be my protector at times. I know deep down this is always the role he was meant to perform. But it still hurts. Can I even call it a betrayal? How can I be betrayed by someone who was never on my side to begin with?

“I want to kiss you again.”

“I am me because I choose to be me. I am what I want. Some people say you have to find yourself. Not I. I believe we create ourselves to be what we want. Any aspect of ourselves that we do not like can be altered if we make an effort.”

“Yes, we should all worship the stars. They are as useful as they are beautiful. Some never change position. They are constants in the sky. Without them, we would be lost.”

When fancy strikes, a man gets this notion in his mind that everything a woman does is for him.

Submissiveness. I try not to cringe as the word enters my mind. Horrid word, that one. But it is what I must be if this is to work. For my father, I’m willing to become everything that I hate.

I live on the cusp of two worlds, trying desperately to fit into one.