Kingsbane (Empirium, #2)

by Claire Legrand

“My light and my life,” and left her.

I see you. And I am not afraid. You will never have to pretend with me. Not ever.”

“She will remake that which has been unmade. She will deal death to those who have dealt death, and she will show no mercy to those who have been merciless. She is a creature of light and a creature of death, as are all of us. But in her heart these extremes are greater, more dangerous, more violent, because she is chained to the empirium, and those bonds scorch her. And so it was for the Blood Queen, and so I now say to you: look upon your Queens with reverence and awe, with fear and with patience, and with pity most of all.”

“All great work must start somewhere,” she said, and then shivered a little, for she hadn’t intended to say those words.

We are more than what’s been done to us. We are more than our anger.

Humans aren’t all goodness or all badness,

“We survived the end of the world, you and I,”

“My name is Eliana,” said the girl. “I am your daughter.”