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Sometimes the stories are rough on the details.
“Most women suffer thorns for the sake of the flowers. But we who would wield power adorn ourselves in flowers to hide the sting of our thorns.” Be sweeter. Be gentler. Smile when you are suffering. Zoya had ignored these lessons, often to her detriment. She was all thorns.
Nikolai released a startled laugh, and she glanced over at him. “What is it?” He shook his head. “I think I’m jealous.” “Of what?” “A dragon.” “Don’t let Juris hear that. He thinks enough of himself as it is.” “He should. He can fly and breathe fire, and he’s probably got piles of gold stashed somewhere.” “That’s an unfair cliché. It could very well be jewels.” “And he made you look like that.”
“I’m trying to do the responsible thing. I think it’s giving me indigestion.”
“Why is it so easy for you to contemplate your death?” “I’d rather look at a thing squarely than let it catch me by surprise.” He grinned. “Don’t tell me you’d miss me.”
Zoya looked away again. “I suppose the world would be less interesting without you in it. I wouldn’t let myself be drowned in amber for just anyone, you know.”
“He left his mark on me and I on him. We did each other damage. It deserves to be remembered.”
‘Beware of power, Zoya. There is no amount of it that can make them love you.’”
“We cannot entertain the possibility of failure.” “A shame,” Nikolai murmured. “My failures are so entertaining.”
“Of course I’ll come back,” he said. “I don’t trust anyone else to deliver my eulogy.” A smile curled her lips. “You’ve written it already?” “It’s very good. You’d be surprised how many synonyms there are for handsome.”
Remember who you are.
Nikolai Nothing, said the voice. Liar. Fraud. Heir to no one. Pretender to the throne. I see who you are. But Nikolai knew those cruelties. He’d borne them his whole life. It takes more than blood to make a king. Tell me what it takes to rule, the thing said in that taunting voice. Courage? Valor? Love for the people? All of that. Nikolai strengthened his grip. He could feel the weight of the thorn in his palm. And a solid sense of style.
You are owed nothing. Steel is earned. Remember who you are.
“Only our own power can destroy us.
“I am your teacher. You were an able student. Prove to me that you are a great one.” She could not do it. “You said it was a corruption.” “Only if you give nothing of yourself in return.” The truth of that hit her, and Zoya knew she was afraid.
“Stop punishing yourself for being someone with a heart. You cannot protect yourself from suffering. To live is to grieve. You are not protecting yourself by shutting yourself off from the world. You are limiting yourself, just as you did with your training.”
You are strong enough to survive the fall.”
Anything worth doing always starts as a bad idea.
“Do you know what I learned in Ketterdam?” Nina asked, gazing at the tree of bones she had built. “No one is innocent. You turned the tide today, Adrik. You didn’t just hold back the waters—you changed the way these people see Grisha. You performed a miracle.” “It wasn’t a miracle. It was skill and luck and a fancy prop you built out of body parts.”
Ravka made me a soldier. Ketterdam made me a spy. Hanne can help me become something else entirely.”
“Are you all right?” he asked. “Fine,” she replied. “You’re sure?” “Which one of us gets to kill the monk?” “You’re fine.”
“My pride is always in need of tender attention,”
They would build a new world together. But first they had to burn the old one down.
“I gave Schenck what he wanted, but he’s going to discover it’s not what he needs. Sometimes you have to feed the demon.”
We are the dragon and we will bide our time.
