That’s what I’ve been for years. An unsister. An undaughter. An unperson. A girl with a hole for a life. How appropriate to have my tongue cut out, when silence has been my refuge and my cage.
With him, I am forever a night-blooming flower, attracted and repelled by the heat of the sun.
Perhaps it is Oak who is the fool, who caught a wolf and thought that by putting it in a gown and speaking to it as though it were a girl, it would become one.
Another girl might have frozen, but I am cold all the way through.
It can be brave to hate. Sometimes it’s like hope.
Fear is not love, but it can appear much the same.
And for a moment, I am viciously glad. It doesn’t feel good exactly, to be in danger, but it does feel good to be the cause of events rather than being swept along into them.
I am a good enough thief to steal a shadow from a tower,” she told him. “I can steal back your heart.
When his eyes meet mine, desire, as keen as any blade, bends the air between us. The moment slows. I want to bite his lip. To feel the heat of his skin. To slide my hands beneath his armor and trace the map of his scars.
Love was a family religion, passed down to her when she’d been too young to protect herself from belief.
All of Faerie is beautiful like this, with carnage hidden just beneath.
A small smile turns up a corner of my mouth. I feel the sharpness of my teeth and roll my tongue over them. For the first time, I like the feeling.
What makes you feel safe when you go to sleep at night? Being able to check and see that your secrets are still hidden.
If I didn’t have another reason to cross you, I would do it for spite.
And that is why you ought not dramatically vow to obey someone. They seldom ask for what you hope they will.
It takes bravery to be an adventurer,” Odette said, lifting her drink and walking away. “And what better adventure than the discovery of our true selves?
Never met a bad decision she wasn’t willing to double down on. Had fingers made for picking pockets, a tongue for lying, and a shriveled cherry pit for a heart.
Prince Oak, heir to Elfhame. Son of the traitorous Grand General and brother to the mortal High Queen. Oak, to whom I was once promised in marriage. Who had once been my friend, although he doesn’t seem to remember it.
Everything died in the Ice Citadel, but hope died first.
There is too little beauty in the world,′ says the prince airily. ‘But that is not my area of greatest conceit.