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A respectable prison is still a prison,
But the thing about magic,” added Kell, “is that it preys on the strong-minded and the weak-willed, and one of the worlds couldn’t stop itself. The people fed on the magic and the magic fed on them until it ate their bodies and their minds and then their souls.”
Magic made things simple. Sometimes, thought Kell, it made things too simple.
Word of mouth was its own kind of magic,
Elements had no tongue, or rather, they could be spoken to in any. The words themselves were less important than the focus they brought to the speaker’s mind, the connection they helped to form, the power they tapped into. In short, the language did not matter, only the intention did.
Magic might live in the blood, but not in the bloodline. It wasn’t passed from parent to child. It chose its own way. Chose its shape.
Power could not be cultivated like a crop, distilled through generations.
It was her favorite one, that map, because none of the places on it were labeled. Surely, someone knew what kind of map it was, and where it led, but Lila didn’t. To her, it was a map to anywhere.
even though he knew that the thing about magic was that it bent the odds.
And clever was more dangerous than bad any day of the week. Lila knew that much.
“Purity without balance is its own corruption.
“I’d rather die on an adventure than live standing still.”
Barron had owned the tavern at the seam—for that was how he thought of the aching old building—for a very long time.
“So?” asked Lila, admiring the grip. “No such thing as too many knives.” “You’re a violent sort.” She wagged the blade. “We can’t all turn blood and whispers into weapons.”
“Crime isn’t that complicated,” she said. “People steal because taking something gives them something. If they’re not in it for the money, they’re in it for control. The act of taking, of breaking the rules, makes them feel powerful. They’re in it for the sheer defiance.”
Battles may be fought from the outside in, but wars are won from the inside out.”
“Never presume to know your enemy.”
“My life is mine to spend,” she said. “And I will not spend it here, no matter how nice your city is, or how much safer it might be. We had a deal, Kell. And you now have Tieren to guard your story and heal your brother. I’m of no use to him. Let me be of use to you.”
“Do you know what makes you weak?” said Holland. “You’ve never had to be strong. You’ve never had to try. You’ve never had to fight. And you’ve certainly never had to fight for your life.
“Good,” she said. “The ones who think they’re ready always end up dead.”
But that was the problem with forcing people to do things they didn’t want to do. You had to be so specific. They had no choice but to follow orders, but they probably weren’t inclined to go above and beyond them.
Rhy laughed silently. “I apologize for anything I might have done. I was not myself.” “I apologize for shooting you in the leg,” said Lila. “I was myself entirely.”
He would see her again. He knew he would. Magic bent the world. Pulled it into shape. There were fixed points. Most of the time those points were places. But sometimes, rarely, they were people. For someone who never stood still, Lila still felt like a pin in Kell’s world. One he was sure to snag on.
