- Kora: At the academy militarium they encouraged us to find a lover. Someone we would defend with our lives when the politics of expansion became too abstract and the way of the conquest was lost in the sheer savagery of combat.
- Gunnar: [distraught] I don't understand what you want.
- Atticus Noble: Well, it's simple. I want everything.
- [first lines]
- Jimmy: [narrating] On the Motherworld, one thousand kings ruled unchallenged in succession. But in the royal bloodline's lust for power, they consumed everything upon their planet. The Realm marched its armies into the vastness of space, conquering everything in its path.
- Jimmy: The glory of the Motherworld seemed without end until the treachery of an assassin's blade struck down the King and Queen, severing the royal bloodline forever. In the chaotic aftermath of the King's death, several conquered planets on the edge of the Motherworld's reach began to whisper of revolution.
- Hagen: [adopted daughter came in] Den is a good man.
- Kora: You should be asleep.
- Hagen: He's the best hunter among us, and a loyal friend.
- [no response]
- Hagen: Have you thought about a more permanent... relationship?
- [still no answer as she takes off her boots]
- Hagen: I know that he's amenable to the idea. He's asked me himself.
- Kora: [slight nod] It's easy between us. Does it have to be more than that?
- Hagen: [sits upright on bed] It's just, uh... that would be a last step to becoming a full member of this community. I'm telling you, this is home now.
- Kora: I want that to be true.
- [starts drawing curtains to have privacy, then hesitates:]
- Kora: You know, the two seasons I've spent here have given me happiness...
- [shakes her head]
- Kora: that I don't deserve. I understand I am a child of war. To truly love and...
- [shrugs]
- Kora: be loved, I... don't know if I'm capable of either.
- [teary-eyed]
- Kora: The very idea of love, of... family was beaten out of me. I was told that love is weakness. And I...
- [shakes her head]
- Kora: I don't know how that will ever change.
- [father gives concerned look]
- Kora: You should get some rest.
- [draws curtains]
- Hagen: Yeah.
- [settles in to rest, obviously worried about his daughter]
- Gunnar: Oh, ah, Den was asking where you were. He and his brother got the big snark - male - he wanted you to see it before he dressed it.
- Kora: Why was he asking for me?
- Gunnar: Well, you know...
- [Kora makes petulant gesture]
- Gunnar: Because he's... I just... I just thought...
- [voice trails off]
- Gunnar: I just thought...
- Kora: You thought!
- [he raises his hands in surrender, smiles]