Tower of Dawn (Throne of Glass, #6)

by Sarah J. Maas

Her voice did not tremble or waver. She added, more quietly but no less fiercely, “I once lived in fear of other people. I let other people walk all over me just because I was too afraid of the consequences for refusing. I did not know how to refuse.” Her hand pushed down on his spine in a silent order to rest his head again. “The day I reached these shores, I cast aside that girl. And I will be damned if I let her reemerge. Or let someone tell me what to do with my life, my choices again.” The hair on his arms rose at the simmering wrath in her voice. A woman made of steel and crackling embers.

It was agony and despair and fear. It was joy and laughter and rest. It was life, all of it, and as that darkness lunged for Chaol and Yrene, he did not fear it. He only looked toward the dark and smiled. Not broken. Made anew. And when the darkness beheld him … Chaol slid a hand against its cheek. Kissed its brow. It loosened its grip and tumbled back into that pit. Curled up on that rocky floor and quietly, carefully, watched him.