There you are, Cardan says as I take my place beside him. How has the night been going for you? Mine has been full of dull conversation about how my head is going to find itself on a spike.
Sharpen your heart.
Whoever controls the king, controls the kingdom
You have only seen the least of what I can do.
You think I don’t deserve him, I say to Cardan.He smiles slowly, like the moon slipping beneath the waves of the lake. Oh no, I think you’re perfect for each other.
Harden your heart.
Cardan looks at me as though he's never seen me before. He looks at me as though no one has ever spoken to him like this. Maybe no one has.
I forbid you from speaking aloud about your service to me. I forbid you from putting it into writing or into song. You will never tell anyone of the Roach. You will never tell anyone of any of my spie...
But kissing Locke never felt the way that kissing Cardan does, like taking a dare to run over knives, like an adrenaline strike of lightning, like the moment when you've swum too far out in the sea an...
Guard your mortal heart.
Have I told you how hideous you look tonight? Cardan asks, leaning back in the elaborately carved chair, the warmth of his words turning the question into something like a compliment.No I say, glad to...
He's flint, you're tinder.
Let's have a toast. To the incompetence of our enemies.
Most of all, I hate you because I think of you. Often. It's disgusting, and I can't stop.
Nice things don’t happen in storybooks. Or when they do happen, something bad happens next. Because otherwise the story would be boring, and no one would read it.
I love my parents' murderer; I suppose I could love anyone.
Get down here before you’re recognized. Playing hide-and-seek under the table? Crouching in the dirt? Typical of your kind, but far beneath my dignity. He laughs unsteadily, like he expects I am going...
He rises from the throne. Come, have a seat. His voice is replete with danger, lush with menace. The flowering branches have sprouted thorns so thickly that petals are barely visible.This is what you...