The King of Attolia (The Queen's Thief, #3)

by Megan Whalen Turner

She knew that he had both hated and loved those cousins who were now beyond both love and hate.

Odd that you could be so angry at someone and devoted to him at the same time.

It made Costis wonder for the first time just how much the stoic man really wants to hide when he unsuccessfully pretends not to be in pain.

“And if what she sacrifices is her heart? Giving it up a piece at a time until there is nothing left? What do you have then, Relius, but a heartless ruler? And what becomes of the common good then?”

“I should have known that,” she said. “I should have had more hope for the future instead of re-creating the past.”

If we truly trust no one, we cannot survive.”