Symphony for a Deadly Throne (Mousai, #3)

by E.J. Mellow

It was a Knowing. One that came from two souls touching and finding they were made up of similar threads, similar dust and bones.

Zimri’s gaze was liquid gold. “Arabessa,” he whispered, said her name as if it were one of Aadilor’s great wonders. “Music of my heart.”

Why can you never be honest about your feelings? Because! she wanted to scream. You are my greatest distraction and my greatest pleasure.

“I love you, Arabessa. So much so that I have been happy to hold only pieces of you for all these years even though I know there is much more of you that you hide away. That we hide from your family. But I can’t keep this charade up forever. I cannot only care for you partially, love you in half measures. That is like asking the sea to not yearn toward the shore with its waves. I will forever be reaching for you, Arabessa, but the question I keep asking is whether you will ever reach back.”

I would rather suffer the fate of my own mind than from the decisions of another.

you and I both know appearance is an illusion, especially in this kingdom. Those who most deem ugly often carry beautiful souls, and those beautiful, foul ones. Perfection is a made-up construct. It is much like time: it cannot be held, and only fools would waste sands falling in an attempt to try.”