Quotes from Mary E. Pearson

but one thing was constant in all the versions I heard, the gods and angels destroyed the world when men aspired to be gods and mercy had fled their hearts.

He settled into his saddle, then reluctantly looked my way again. "Jafir de Aldrid," he answered. "And I am—" "I know who you are. You're Morrighan." He galloped off. It was another four years before I saw him again, and the whole of that time, I wondered how he knew my name.

Now he was the one who was incredulous. He drew his knife from its sheath, but he was too weak to step forward, and it spilled from his hand. His sword remained useless at his side. He looked back at me in disbelief and slid to the ground, his face twisted in pain. I walked closer and stood over him, kicking his knife away. "You were wrong, Komizar. It's much easier to kill a man than a horse.

When I was halfway between one world and another, a moment of clarity broke through. This is what it was to die. *

These were the places that Ama described in her stories, places where all the children of the tribe would be princes and princesses and their stomachs always full. It was a once-upon-a-time world that used to be. In

Was it possible to ever really know anyone, or was I simply the worst judge of character in all of history?

My body molded to his, and the seconds ticked by. All I wanted was more time with him. His lips traveled to my neck. "It was worth it, Lia," he said. "Every mile, every day. I'd do it all again. I'd chase you across three continents if that's what it took to be with you.

Wait," I said, and they paused mid-stride. "Thank you. Rafe told me you were the best of Dalbreck's soldiers. Now I know that he didn't overestimate your abilities." I turned to Sven. "And I'm sorry I threatened to feed your face to the hogs." Sven smiled. "All in a day's work, Your Highness," he said, and then he bowed. *

The world would always know, even if men forgot.

grabbed my dagger and prayed for Adeline's forgiveness as I altered the dress she had lent me, and Vilah's forgiveness too as I pried free a long piece of chain from her chain-mail belt. I would attend the party just as he had asked, but I would attend as the person I was—not the one he wanted me to be.

I'll take a game of cards to stitchery any day. My brothers are shrewd, bordering on thieves when it comes to their cards—the best kind of teachers to have. Last

Love … It's a nice little trick if you can find it.

But now I knew finding love and holding on to it were not the same thing.

stopped him, pushing him to his feet again by the tip of my sword. "It shouldn't matter if I am a tavern maid or a princess. When I see you treating others with respect without regard to their station—or anatomy—then your apology will mean something." I

Write it down, he had told me. Write down every word once you get there, Before the truth is forgotten. And now we do, at least the parts we remember. —Greyson Ballenger, 14

as a child she thought if she could just pull away the fence they would turn back into the beautiful horses they really were and escape to the old plains. she had hope in that power

except for the muffled strum of her fingers against metal, the house is still, quiet, but then she hears another sound, this one coming from deep within. a numbing furrow slides through her soul, sliding into her brain, a furrow that seperates one part of her heart from the other. and then it goes quiet agani.

Maybe that's what makes you brave enough to face another.

I'm sure our paths will cross again, and our differences will be settled once and for all. Walk carefully, because next time it will be I who will surprise you." My

cause only the Lord knows the heart of a man. ain't our job to be second-guessing.

She was radiant, her cheeks glowing with heat, her long locks shimmering in the lantern light like golden marmalade, swinging in rhythm with the zitaraes and flutes. I wished I could be her sometimes, jumping into every moment fully, her cheer covering the darkness that still lurked deep inside her.

what's fate to you, opal? she asks. opal leans back, too. oh, lots of things. lots and lots of things all pushed up against each other that makes something else happen. so much pushing it just can't happen any other way - unless you push back to make it not.

For Walther. For Greta. For all the dreams that were gone. The stealer of dreams would steal no more, even if it meant killing the Komizar myself. My own mother may have betrayed me by suppressing my gift, but she was right about one thing. I am a soldier in my father's army. I glanced up at Kaden riding beside me. Maybe now it was I who would become the assassin.

The sun was high, midday, and I knew we had to be getting close to the point where Kaden and I would leave the caravan. Whatever landscape we passed, I saw none of it. My insides were raw—shredded from one end to the other by someone who I had thought loved me. Yes, it was the longest twelve miles of my life. Orrin,