Heartless

by Marissa Meyer

“As it so happens, Mr. Jest, I’ve sometimes come to believe as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”

“You are stunning in that absurd hat. Absolutely, undeniably stunning.

“I can’t stop thinking about you, either, Lady Pinkerton.”

“I can’t stop thinking about you, Lady Catherine Pinkerton of Rock Turtle Cove. I’ve been trying, but it’s useless. You’ve had me mesmerized from the first moment I saw you in that red dress, and I don’t know what to do about it, other than to use every skill at my disposal to try and mesmerize you back.”

“Don’t you understand? My role has been compromised since that first night in the gardens. I don’t want you to marry the King. And even if I could still somehow claim your heart, even after telling you how cruel and unfair I’ve treated you, I wouldn’t be able to give it to the White Queen. Catherine, I don’t want your heart to belong to anyone but me.”

“You have my heart, Jest. I don’t know if you deserve it or not. I can’t tell if you’re a hero or a villain, but it doesn’t seem to matter. Either way, my heart is yours.”

“Over everything, I choose you.”

“I cannot tell you how I look forward to a lifetime at your side, and all the impossible things I’ll have you believing in.”

“How different everything could have been,” she said, “if you had thought to ask me that before.”