“Lying on his bed feels like wiping my dirty peasant feet on the throne.” — Holly Black Copy Share Image
“I don't feel calm at all. I am a maelstrom of emotions. All I want to do is scream.” — Holly Black Copy Share Image
“I tried to kill you,' she reminds me. 'You've described pretty much every important relationship in my life,' I return.” — Holly Black Copy Share Image
“She has known the tide and undertow of my feelings, my hurts, both small and large, for most of my life.” — 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
“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
“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
“...opulent patterns intricately stitched on skirts of gold and silver, each as beautiful as the dawn.” — Holly Black Copy Share Image
“...nothing I could do to you will be as terrible as what you'll do to yourself.” — 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
“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
“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
“I wonder if there's a limit to what I will let them do, if there is something that would make me fight… — 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
“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
“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
“...when they are gone, it will be use staring across a chessboard at each other. And when I best you, I will… — 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
“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
“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
“...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 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
“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
“...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
“I pass trays of spun-sugar animals, little acorn cups filled with wine, enormous sculptures of horn, and a stall where a bent-backed woman takes a brush and draws charms on the soles of shoes. It takes some wandering, but I finally find a collection of sculpted leather masks. They are pinned to a wall and cunningly shaped like the faces… — Holly Black Copy Share
“Lady Asha, as the mother of a prince, found herself much in demand with the Court, if not the High King. Given to whimsy and frivolity, she wished to return to the merry life of a courtier. She couldn't attend balls with an infant in tow, so she found a cat whose kitten were still born to act as his… — Holly Black Copy Share
“It's okay to want something that's going to hurt, I remind myself. I move toward him, so we are close enough to touch. He takes my hand in his, fingers lacing together, and bends towards me. There is plenty of time for me to pull away from the kiss, but I don't. I want him to kiss me. My weariness… — Holly Black Copy Share
“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
“Madoc says you will duel for love,' I say. 'Whose?' he asks, frowning. There is no banquet too abundant for a starving man. I shake my head. 'It's you I love,' he says. 'I spent much of my life guarding my heart. I guarded it so well that I could behave as though I didn't have one at all. Even… — Holly Black Copy Share
“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 the dance. He can barely stand. Three times he stumbles, and three times I have to hold most of his weight to keep him upright. 'Cardan.' I hiss. 'This is no meet behaviour for the High King.' He… — Holly Black Copy Share
“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
“What they don’t realize is this: Yes, they frighten me, but I have always been scared, since the day I got here. I was raised by the man who murdered my parents, reared in a land of monsters. I live with that fear, let it settle into my bones, and ignore it. If I didn’t pretend not to be scared,… — Holly Black Copy Share
When you don't know what you're searching for, you have to look absolutely everywhere. — Holly Black Copy Share Image
“Madoc makes a snorting sound, then turns to me. 'I am sure that Wren here wouldn't mind taking Lady Nore's castle and lands for… — Holly Black Copy Share Image
“No, I won't help you. No I won't hear you explain why I should. It really is a magical word: no. You say whatever… — Holly Black Copy Share Image
Let her alone,' said the enkanto, 'or I will curse you blind, lame, and worse.' The old man laughed. 'I'm a curse breaker, fool.'… — Holly Black Copy Share Image
“His wax-white skin was cool to the touch when she brushed his neck to find the knot of cloth. She'd never been this close… — Holly Black Copy Share Image
So what are you really wearing?" The words left her mouth before she could consider them. She winced. He didn't seem to mind; in fact, he flashed her one of his brief smiles. "And if I said nothing at all?" "Then I would point out that sometimes, if you look at something out of the corner of your eye, you… — Holly Black Copy Share
“I grab a chair. "I don't mean to pry," I say, "but we're in a hospital. You sure you're fine?" She sighs heavily. "No… — Holly Black Copy Share Image
Kaye: You know what the sun looks like? Janet: No, What? Kaye: Like he slit his wrists in a bathtub and the blood is… — Holly Black Copy Share Image
