The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic

by Leigh Bardugo

a stream, its surface so bright with starlight it was as if someone had peeled the rind from the moon like a piece of fruit and laid it in a gleaming ribbon upon the forest floor.

This goes to show you that sometimes the unseen is not to be feared and that those meant to love us most are not always the ones who do.”

“Who can say? Bad fates do not always follow those who deserve them.”

Ivan Gostov’s fur shone clean and glossy as it never had in life, and for some reason, this struck Koja as a very sad thing.

She lived in happy solitude, and grew old, and never worried when her beauty faded, for in her reflection she always saw a free woman.

For the briefest moment, Ulla despised Signy, as we can only hate those who rescue us from loneliness. It was unbearable that this girl had such power, and that Ulla hadn’t the will to refuse her kindness.

Ulla could forgive betrayal, another abandonment, even her own death. But not this moment, when after all her sacrifice, she begged for mercy and Signy sought a prince’s permission to grant it.