Are you determined to leave me in this world to live without my heart?’ Archer asked. ‘Because that’s what you very nearly did.

Well then,” Roen said briskly, “are you sleeping?””Yes.””Come now. A mother can tell when her son lies. Are you eating?””No,” Brigan said gravely. “I’ve not eaten in two months. It’s a hunger strike to protest...

He thinks we’re made of money.

It’s as if when I open myself up to every perception, things create their own focus.

What man can hate or love well when he is drugged?

Your brothers are the foolish ones for not seeing the strength in beautiful things.

She didn’t want to go far, just out of the trees so she could see the stars. They always eased her loneliness. She thought of them as beautiful creatures, burning and cold; each solitary, and...

Great! He has indigestion, so let’s torture him with cake.

King Drowden has given his men instructions to infiltrate the town, bribe townspeople for the secrets of their neighbors, steal the neighbors’ hidden treasures. Much more subtle than Drowden’s usual smash and burn technique. We...

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...