“But Hazael only said, "I brought you a present." Liraz took the flower, looked at it, and then a Hazael, expressionless. And then she ate it. She chewed the flower and swallowed it. "Hmm," said Hazael. "Not the usual response." "Oh, do you give flowers often?" "Yes," he said. He probably did. Hazael had a way of enjoying life in spite of the many restrictions they lived under, being soldiers, and worse, being Misbegotten. "I hope it wasn't poisonous," he said lightly. Liraz just shrugged. "There are worse ways to die.”
![“She plucked the blossoms from the bag and arranged them, one by one, in the water glass on her dressing table. "They'll never keep," I said. "They're [hibiscus] a terrible cutting flower. They'll wilt by morning." "I know," she said." But don't they look so pretty right now, just as they are?" I…” quote by Sarah Jio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/966/sarah-jio-8851_flowers_she-plucked-the-blossoms-from-the-bag-an_739724.jpg)
