Kingfall (The Kingfall Histories, #1)

by David Estes

“What you must understand about power is that it’s like a piece of fruit. It will satisfy you for a time, but then it’s gone and you must get another piece of fruit. Or you can save that piece of fruit with the intention of enjoying it another time. Alas, when you return to eat the fruit, it’s shriveled and rotten, suitable only for a pig’s trough. No, the only way to ensure you never go without fruit is to grow your supply,

But I know of revenge and vengeance. They are a pair of knives that will twist inside you until you decide to pull them out and bury them deep within the earth.”

Didn’t living require changing, adapting, becoming something different than the caterpillar clinging to a branch and nibbling on leaves, bursting from one’s cocoon to test out the wings of a butterfly?

Not ‘You look beautiful,’ Peony noticed. ‘You are beautiful,’ like it was something permanent and unchangeable and not only relegated to the superficial surface of her skin. Deeper, like he could see into the core of her and deemed her worthy of such a compliment.