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“Knowledge and wisdom are two different things,” I answer. “Scribes are careful not to ask for what should be earned.”
“Never figured you for rider black, but power looks good on you.”
“Grief doesn’t excuse any of that.
But third, and most importantly—” He lowers his voice. “She really, honestly hasn’t thought about you. At least not since the second she set eyes on me.”
“Yes, love, I’m jealous
“I’m jealous of the armor that holds you when I can’t, the sheets on your bed that caress your skin every night, and the blades that feel your hands. So, when the prince of our realm walks into my classroom and starts talking to the woman I love with what can only be considered intense familiarity, and then has the audacity to ask her out right in front of me, naturally, I’m going to get jealous.” He brings our bodies flush.
Perhaps the point of this is not to deny rebellion, but to only go to war with those you trust implicitly.
“It really pisses me off when you guys act like my sense of humor somehow lessens my ability to show up for our squad.”
“You get one chance to form your own squad, and you choose your ex, your current lover, the quadrant’s resident smart-ass, two people who have tried to kill you in the past year—one over said current lover—and whatever Dain is? These are your choices for the most important mission any rider could possibly undertake?”
“And I’ve never been one to confuse a title with power.”
“I’m done sleeping in a bed that doesn’t have you in it.”
It feels so right to be in his arms.
“I may collect rarities, but King Courtlyn absconds with them. Do not wander off from each other, do not advertise what a rare jewel you are, and at all costs—do not make a deal you cannot keep.”
“Given this is an isle dedicated to peace, they’re certainly prepared for war.”
“There’s no magic here.” He tugs me against him. “No power. No lure. No taunting reminder that I can save everyone if I just reach for it and take what’s offered. It’s only…peace.”
And yet…if all of it hadn’t happened, would we still be us? Or is the miracle of our relationship the result of a precise combination of tragedies that broke us both so completely that when we collided, we became something entirely new?
Xaden follows me in last, mainly because I don’t think he’ll ever trust anyone without a rebellion relic to ever truly cover his back.
“No, no. Staying down is a safer bet for everyone involved,” Xaden warns him. “She only wounded you, but I’ll kill you if you take another step toward her, and it turns out that’s bad for international relations.”
He didn’t love me, not in the way I deserve to be loved, and no amount of power is worth staying with someone who doesn’t love you.”
“And that right there is why he didn’t leave them for you, dear. We all have a part to play in what’s coming for us; this one is simply hers. While he was busy raising Violet for this particular mission, your mother was raising you. I wonder what legacy you’ve inherited.”
The most useless word in the language of aristocracy has always been and will forever be: love. Marriage is a necessary evil to secure the line. Nothing more. Save love for your children.
No, it’s all hunger and blatant, naked demand. It’s fucking perfect, unrestrained, and absolutely greedy.
Mine. It’s the only word that comes to mind as I devour the sight of him.
I want my fucking power back, and I want it now.
“The shadows here are not mine. I know your skill with a dagger. I’m not discounting your ability to protect yourself, but for the good of my sanity while I try to get Halden out of whatever mess he’s created, will you please stay by my side?” I nod. How can I not? He’s not asking me to hide behind him, nor did he leave me with Tairn to keep me safe. He’s just asking me to stay close. And honestly, there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.
They aren’t made for close combat, and I am.
“If we’re not back by nightfall, burn the place to the ground.”
“Focus now, analyze later,”
What is with the fucking death wishes around here?
“This just got interesting,” Tairn notes.
“Being trained from birth doesn’t make you any more qualified,”
But though their intelligence and their wisdom inspire me, their artifice terrifies me.
You push, and he’ll shove back twice as hard.”
“What I need is for Xaden to be all right. If that means setting this house on fire and leaving without accomplishing anything else on this isle, then I’ll hand him a torch.”
“You must love him to prioritize his feelings over your mission,”
“Worrying isn’t in her nature. She likes to solve the immediate problem and handle consequences later.”
I already feel it. It’s like sliding over a frozen lake while a shrinking part of me screams that I’m supposed to be swimming in those pieces I’ve bartered away, and those feelings are right beneath the surface, but fuck is skating faster and a hell of a lot less messy. This shit?” He swings his finger back toward the house. “It’s messy and painful and infuriating, and if I could choose to give this portion of myself away, so help me, Malek, I would. I get it now. It’s not just the power that’s addicting; it’s the freedom to not feel this.”
It’s not just the power that’s addicting; it’s the freedom to not feel this.
“The pain. The mess. Give it to me. I’ll hold it. I know that sounds ludicrous, but I’ll find a way.” I lace our fingers. “I will hold everything you don’t want to feel because I love every part of you.”
“You already hold my soul and now you want my pain? Getting greedy, Violence.”
“Are we scheming? I do enjoy scheming.”
The god of wisdom is the trickiest to placate. Hedeon seems to only answer those who do not pray to him.
May only our minds know hunger.”
“To tie your life to another’s, especially something as frail and easily breakable as a human, seems a foolhardy thing to do.”
Heirs and alliances aren’t my concern. I will fight in this war, most likely die, and do so knowing that I protected others.”
“Honor has never been the equal of wisdom.”
They happen to be two of the most powerful riders on the Continent, so in that way, his alliance with her is perhaps wiser.
The two of them could break and reshape the Continent if they chose to.
They’re not judging our intelligence; they’re dissecting life choices.
“If bloodlines equaled allegiance, we wouldn’t be sitting here under interrogation.”
