Even if, by some miracle, I could be better than them, I will never be one of them.
Watch the blade, not the soldier, Madoc told me many times. Steel never deceives.
There are many things I am forbidden from telling you, for I am bound by both promises and strictures. Three times I will warn you, and that’s all I am permitted, so heed me. Something even more dangerous than your prince walks in his shadow. Do not seek him out.
In my heart, I yearn to best them.
Let me have everything I ever wanted, everything I ever dreamed, and eternal misery along with it.
And you will still love him, mortal girl, long after his feelings evaporate like morning dew.
My chest hurts, looking at him. I feel like I can’t breathe. Though he is in front of me, the pain of losing him hasn’t faded.
They are two people who ought to have, by all rights, remained enemies forever. He can’t believe his good fortune, can’t trace the path that got him here.
You choose a path without being certain where it leads.
Cardan’s face is serious, almost grave, in a way that he seldom allows himself to be. “When my father sent me way, at first i tried to prove that i was nothing like he thought me. But when that didn’t work, I tried to be exactly what he believed i was instead. If he thought i was bad, i would be worse. If he thought i was cruel, i would be horrifying. I would live down to his every expectation. If i couldn’t have his favor, then i would have his wrath.
If i pretend not to be scared, I would lie there and scream until there was nothing left of me. I refuse to do that. I will not do that.
I hereafter exile Jude Duarte to the mortal world until such time as she is pardoned by the crown. Until then, let her not step one foot in Faerie or forfeit her life.
Let’s talk about your behavior tonight,” says Madoc, leaning forward. “Let’s talk about your behavior tonight,” I return.
How do people like us take off our armor? One piece at a time.
It is hard to explain the savagery of hope.
My greatest weakness has always been my desire for love. It is a yawning chasm within me, and the more that I reach for it, the more easily I am tricked. I am a walking bruise, an open sore. If Oak is masked, I am a face with all the skin ripped off. Over and over, I have told myself that I need to guard against my own yearnings, but that hasn’t worked.
My sister thinks that she’s the only one who can take poison, but I am poison,′ he whispers, eyes half-closed, talking to himself. ‘Poison in my blood. I poison everything I touch.
The Folk adore Cardan, and they’re terrified of my sister, two excellent things. I hope they rule Elfhame for a years and then pass it down to one of a dozen offspring. No need for me to be involved.
Sometimes life gives us the terrible gift of our own wishes come true.
Jude. You are in no mood for games, very well. I am in no mood for them, either. Let me write it outright; You are pardoned. I revoke your banishment. I rescind my words. Come home. Come home and shout at me. Come home and fight with me. Come home and break my heart, if you must. Just come home.