I know you don’t want this, Katsa. But I can’t help myself. The moment you came barreling into my life I was lost. I’m afraid to tell you what I wish for, for fear you’ll…...

Part of avoiding thoughts about something was not encouraging opportunities for that something to makes itself felt.

Tell me.”And so Po described to Katsa what hid in the blackness of the cave; and outside, the world awaited them.

Some of the smartest men have a hard time comprehending the obvious.

Katsa and Po were trying to drown each other and, judging from their hoots of laughter, enjoying it immensely.

From the warmth of her fondness for her horse she constructed a fragile and changeable thing that almost resembled courage. She hoped it would be enough.

Our own story is even more important for us to know than history.

Your horse is named Small.Yes.Mine is named Big.-Fire and Brigan

Skye kissed her forehead. “You saved my life.”Katsa smiled. “You Lienid are very outward in your affection.””I’m going to name my firstborn child after you.”Katsa laughed at that. “For the child’s sake, wait for a...

While I was looking the other way your fire went outLeft me with cinders to kick into dustWhat a waste of the wonder you wereIn my living fire I will keep your scorn and mineIn...

Through an arrow loop in the wall she saw a familiar horse and rider tearing across the camp toward the healing rooms. Brigan pulled up at Nash’s feet and dropped from the saddle. The two...

The Lienid fighter is filling your mind with romantic notions.

Brigan was saying her name, and he was sending her a feeling. It was courage and strength, and something else too, as if he were standing with her, as if he’d taken her within himself,...

Pain might escalate upward and, just when you thought you’d reached your limit, begin to spread sideways, and spill out, and touch other people, and mix with their pain. And grow larger, but somehow less...

I’d thought once, actually, of taking your mind, if you asked. I’d thought I could help you fall asleep at night.”He opened his mouth to say something. Shut it again. His face closed for a...

Everyone wants a little bit of something beautiful.

To Garan’s credit, the treatment of Dellian prisoners did change after that. One particularly laconic man, after a session in which Fire learned positively nothing, thanked her for it specifically. “Best dungeons I ever been...

The only way for you to keep your mind straight is to run from those who would confuse you.

Could you attempt, at least, to make yourself presentable? I know this is a war, but the rest of us are trying to pretend it’s a party.

It’s only water,” she said.”Tell that to a drowning man,” Giddon said.

Hidden yourself in a hole and dared to burden no one with your grievous friendship? I will have friends, Katsa. I will have a life, even though I carry this burden.

How unjust then to meet that person you love, and be kept away from them only because ones bed is made of hay , and the other, feathers.

He held up a finger and went to the hallway, where he tripped over Blotchy, and then over the two monster cats madly pursuing Blotchy. Swearing, he leaned over the landing and called to the...

A man who fights you as he does is no better than an opportunist and no worse than a thug.

She wanted to cause him pain for taking a place in her heart she wouldn’t have given him if she’d known the truth.

For a moment, it was almost as if they were friends again.

When she came back minutes later with a great, fat, skinned rabbit, Po had built a fire. The flames cast orange light on the horses and on himself. “It was the least I could do,”...

Children are geniuses.

Nonetheless, when it finally ended and the hairdressers left and Tess insisted upon pulling her to the mirror, Fire saw, and understood, that everyone had done the job well. The dress, deep shimmering purple and...

You do trust him, though, Giddon?””Holt, who is stealing your sculptures and is of questionable mental health?””Yes.””I trusted him five minutes ago. Now I’m at a bit of a loss.””Your opinion five minutes ago is...

This may be a thing you neither want nor need,” she said. “But I’d rather you have it, wishing didn’t, than not have it and wish you did.

Tell me what I can do to help you feel better.”Well…I always like when you kiss me…”Do you?”You’re good at it. “Well, that’s lucky. Because I’ll always be kissing you.

You’re afraid of your own anger.

Waste is Criminal.

Well. I always like it when you kiss me.Do you?You’re good at it.Well, that’s lucky, because I’ll always be kissing you.

He considered her seriously. “Well. And that’s easy,” he said. “My Grace will protect me from him, And I’ll protect you. You’ll be safe with me, Katsa.

It’s not reasonable to love people who are only going to die,” she said.Nash thought about that for a moment, stroking Small’s neck with great deliberation, as if the fate of the Dells depended on...

Fire looked into his quiet eyes, touched his dear familiar face and considered the question.

Bitterblue had never seen a man naked, and she was curious. She decided the universe owed her a few minutes, just a few, to satisfy her curiosity. So she went to him and knelt, which...

There isn’t a simple person anywhere in this world.

It was a hurting tune, resigned, a cry of heartache for all in the world that fell apart. As ash rose black against the brilliant sky, Fire’s fiddle cried out for the dead, and for...

There was no helping her tears. For they would leave Po behind… She cried into his shoulder like a child. Ashamed of herself, for it was only a parting, and Bitterblue had not wept like...

If we’re to be judged by our parents and grandparents, then we all may as well impale ourselves upon jagged bits of rock.

For most of the process, nothing but faith, fueled by your own stubbornness, will be pulling you along. The work that you’ve done on the book so far won’t be much comfort, because so much...

Spelling bees? Spelling bees do not scare me. I competed in the National Spelling Bee twice, thank you very much. My dad competed in the National Spelling Bee. My aunt competed in the National Spelling...

When Brocker arrived he took her hands and held them to his face and cried into them.

Así que ahora tienes amigas… Y un corazón que se ha vuelto protector! —Siempre lo ha sido. Pero ahora hay más personas en él que se te han unido;no es que te hayan reemplazado.

I’m not going to wear a red dress,” she said.”It would look stunning, My Lady,” she called.She spoke to the bubbles gathered on the surface of the water. “If there’s anyone I wish to stun...

Fire supposed he needed to be there in order to give rousing speeches and lead the charge into the fray, or whatever is was commanders did in wartime. She resented his competence at something so...

The fact that at the moment the distinction is being made, a young adult, as opposed to an adult, is the one reading it. In other words, I don’t entirely believe in the distinction. A...