Elle Katharine White

“I’ve been in many battles in my lifetime. I’ve slain monsters by the hundreds and won more victories than I can count, but against this there’s no defense. From the moment we met I tried fighting it—gods, I’ve tried. Nothing works. I thought I’d be safe at the other end of the country, but the minute I heard you were coming to Edan Rose I flew here as fast as Akarra would take me. I’m a Rider and you’re a nakla,” Daired said. “There’s nothing we have in common. There’s nothing we should have in common. Your birth, your bloodline, all of it—it’s beneath me. I know all of that, and it hasn’t changed a thing. I’ve lost, Aliza. You’ve defeated me.”
― Elle Katharine White, Heartstone

“And then, because I’d fought through dragonfire and death and knew at last what courage looked like, I kissed him.
I thought I knew everything there was to know about fire. I’d smelled it, touched it, almost tasted it, but for all that, I had no idea. This was the fire that bound the Daired bloodline to dragonkind. Love, and passion, and wildness— all burned in that single touch, searing my lips even as it seared my soul.”
― Elle Katharine White, Heartstone