Quotes from Mary E. Pearson

Crown Prince Walther of Morrighan was dead... Silence choked the crowd for a moment and then mother after mother, sister, father, wife, brother, fell to their knees.

Duty . That was a word I hated as much as tradition .

I wondered if she was truly Rahtan. Yes, she was skilled, but she didn't exactly possess brawn—even if she had managed to overtake me and slam me up against the wall. But juggling? Riddles? Her age. Her poise and demeanor was that of a cynical tested soldier, but her appearance—she was young, younger than me, I was certain. Her black hair fell in thick, long waves, and her hands were delicate, her fingers more suited for a piano than a sword.

Confluence-a coming together by chance.. Together they become something greater, but it isn't delicate or sweet. Like a raging river, a confluence can lead to something impossible to predict or control... Yet sometimes the coming together, the confluence of destinies, seemed not to be by chance at all.

You are a man of many talents, King Jaxon." Creases deepened around his eyes. "And you, Queen Jezelia, are a woman of surprising strengths.

soon the day would cleave in two, forever creating the before and after of my life, and it would happen in one swift act that I could no more alter than the color of my eyes.

Tell me who I am. (29)

I knew why he chose the brown. It was the plainest of my dresses, certainly drab in his eyes, but all the better to contrast and showcase the red he'd have me wear tomorrow. I had no doubt he'd ordered the snow itself as the perfect backdrop, and surely he'd ordered the sun to shine in the morning so as not to deter the crowds.

I had seen Rahtan before in Ráj Nivad, but none had been like her. They looked like killers and brutes, and they were big. She barely reached past my shoulder. And they sure as hell never juggled.

You are Rahtan, Kazi. You have a promise to keep, and you will betray him eventually.

She leaned closer and said, "Let's just call this a friendly warning. If you hurt my brother, I'll make sure that you regret it.

There are all kinds of friends you make in life... But there's something different about someone who spreads their wings with you.

My head spun, but in a way that wanted to sink into, to drown in the warmth of it. I was falling into a vast dark sky and I didn't care. I wanted to disappear into it. I wanted more. Our tongues explored, soft, warm, and then he pulled away, his eyes searching mine, wondering, asking. Should he stop? No, I thought. No. Don't stop. His gaze held, waiting, as if he needed to hear me say it aloud.

Whatever you choose for your stationery is your favorite color because it's where you pour your heart out.

Lia," he whispered. "Lia." And I heard the words I love you, even if he didn't say them.

He was a habit in my thoughts, not any more welcome than a rash, but I'd find myself thinking of him before I even realized what I was doing. Banishing him from my thoughts was like learning to breathe in a new way. it was a conscious effort.

I suppose you're right about some perspectives. Just a few weeks ago, I thought you were a dickhead.

I reached out and touched a tiny pink toe that peeked from Kaden's swaddling shirt. "He's beautiful," I said. "How are you feeling?" "Well enough," she answered, rolling her eyes, "considering I just paraded my lady parts to a killer barbarian." She sighed. "But I suppose, compared to what you've been through, it's a small indignity to bear.

Colonel Sven Haverstrom of the Dalbreck Royal Guard, Assigned Steward of Crown Prince Jaxon. The others laughed at that title. They were free with their jest and jabs, even with an officer who outranked them, but Sven gave it back as good as he got it. Officer Jeb McCance, Falworth Special Forces. Officer Tavish Baird, Tactician, Fourth Battalion. Officer Orrin del Aransas, Falworth First Archer Assault Unit.

I cry out and fall to my knees, unable to go on, weeping for the dead, weeping for the cruelties, and a whisper calls to me from far away, You are strong, Stronger than your pain, Stronger than your grief, Stronger than them. And I force myself to my feet again.

Words have longer lives than people.

When is a cell finally too small to hold our essence?

I was becoming stronger in some ways but weaker in others.

it was only me, a thousand blinking stars, and the beauty of darkness stretched to the ends of the universe, snuffing out the endless games of courts and kingdoms.