The Empire of Gold (The Daevabad Trilogy, #3)

by S.A. Chakraborty

slipping into the cold pragmatism that had always ruled her life. It almost felt good to do so. There was no conquered city, no calculating mother who should have been dead, no warrior with pleading green eyes. There was only surviving.

“It wasn’t you. I didn’t trust anyone,” she said, realizing it as she spoke. “I was afraid to. It always felt like I was one mistake away from losing everything.”

do not believe ambitious men who say the only route to peace and prosperity lies in giving them more power—particularly

“She told me to keep myself whole. That there wasn’t any shame in taking care of yourself in order to help those who needed you.”

“It’s been easier to keep busy. If I’m doing things—fixing things, working, cleaning—it keeps my mind from everything else, though that’s probably a cowardly thing to admit.”

“Not wanting to be destroyed by despair doesn’t make you a coward, Ali. It makes you a survivor.”

I am who I always wanted to be.

“In my experience, Hatset, parents in our world are capable of doing a great deal of hurt to their children.”

would rather make a mistake than have my choices stripped away.”

“I think worship sounds exhausting. I’ve got enough responsibilities—I don’t need expectations of perfection and divinity on top of them.”

“What I’ve always wanted,” she finally answered. “I want to be a doctor. I want to fix people and fill my head with knowledge. And maybe find some riches and happiness along the way.”

She was getting better at doing so: allowing herself to savor pockets of happiness instead of worrying they’d be ripped away.