“Kiss me. Kiss me until I'm sick of it.” ― Holly Black, The Cruel Prince” — Holly Black Copy Share Image
“The disturbing thing about Cardan is how well he plays the fool to disguise his own cleverness.” — Holly Black Copy Share Image
“Oh, tell me the rest. I like tricks and snares. Even ones I was nearly caught in.” — Holly Black Copy Share Image
“You're awful.' He said it as though he was delighted. 'And the worst part is that you believe otherwise.” — Holly Black Copy Share Image
“Come home and shout at me. Come home and fight with me. Come home and break my heart, if you must. Just… — Holly Black Copy Share Image
“He continues looking at me in this strange way, as though he's never seen me before or as though he thought he'd… — Holly Black Copy Share Image
“He will be the destruction of the crown and the ruination of the throne.” — Holly Black Copy Share Image
“He's so beautiful, so perfectly, horribly, inhumanely beautiful that I can barely breathe.” — Holly Black Copy Share Image
“We show her that I am no feckless High king.' 'And how do we do that?' I ask. 'With great difficulty,' he… — Holly Black Copy Share Image
“Idly, I wonder what sort of execution Cardan might order. Maybe he'd strap me to some rocks and let the sea do… — Holly Black Copy Share Image
“I hate the way I cling to him, the nails of one hand digging into his back, my thoughts splintering, and the… — Holly Black Copy Share Image
“He grabs hold of my wrist. I am shocked by the sensation of his skin warm against mine. 'Take care,' he says,… — Holly Black Copy Share Image
“It's ridiculous the way everyone acts like killing a king is going to make someone better at being one," Vivi says. "Imagine… — Holly Black Copy Share Image
“Cardan puts up a hand. 'No, no, enough. It's all too tedious to explain. I declare this meeting at an end.' His… — Holly Black Copy Share Image
“Have I told you how hideous you look tonight?" Cardan asks, leaning back in the elaborately carved chair, the warmth of his… — Holly Black Copy Share Image
“We should have called truce, he'd said, brushing back his ink-black hair impatiently. We should have called truce long before this. But… — Holly Black Copy Share Image
“The High King makes a nonchalant gesture. 'Jude likes to suppose the worst of both her enemies and her allies. Her reward… — Holly Black Copy Share Image
“Have you come to throw yourself on the mercy of the crown? Perhaps you hope the Queen of Elfhame will show leniency.'… — Holly Black Copy Share Image
“I follow him behind the throne and off the dais, where a small door is set against the stone wall, half hidden… — Holly Black Copy Share Image
“...you think it was sunrise I was waiting for and not my queen. Do you not hear her footfalls? She has never… — Holly Black Copy Share Image
“Cardan had grown up in the palace, a wild thing to be cosseted by courtiers and scowled at by the High King.… — Holly Black Copy Share Image
“...he kisses me, sweet and raw. 'I missed you,' I whisper against his skin and feel dizzy with the intimacy of the… — Holly Black Copy Share Image
“He visited the weavers and tailors with his brother, choosing garments with cuffs of feathers and exquisite embroidery, with collars as sharp… — Holly Black Copy Share Image
“Cardan lies on the rug with one arm propping up his head and the other slung across Jude's waist. He understands everything… — Holly Black Copy Share Image
“I hate you," I whisper before he can speak. He tilts my face to his. "Say it again," he says as the… — Holly Black Copy Share Image
“Lady Asha, as the mother of a prince, found herself much in demand with the Court, if not the High King. Given… — Holly Black Copy Share Image
“Sometimes I think about Cardan when I am lying there. I think about what it must have been like to grow up… — Holly Black Copy Share Image
“It's okay to want something that's going to hurt, I remind myself. I move toward him, so we are close enough to… — Holly Black Copy Share Image
“Madoc says you will duel for love,' I say. 'Whose?' he asks, frowning. There is no banquet too abundant for a starving… — Holly Black Copy Share Image
“Please,' she says, her head bent. 'Please. You must try to break the curse. I know that you are the queen by… — Holly Black Copy Share Image
“Come with me,' Cardan says again, drawing me away from the blood-soaked star chart and the others taking their lessons. 'I am… — Holly Black Copy Share Image
“Oh ho,' he says. 'My darling seneschal. Let us take a turn around the room.' He grabs me and pulls me toward… — Holly Black Copy Share Image
“You didn't hear the story I told," he goes on. "A shame. It featured a handsome boy with a heart of stone… — Holly Black Copy Share Image
“Her fingers are cold against his flushed skin. It's nice. He hopes she won't take them away.” — Holly Black Copy Share Image
“I wish I could punch him in his smug face and show him how undeterred I am by his exile.” — Holly Black Copy Share Image
