Gauri Quotes

“A story had no owner ship. A story could break its bones, grow wings, soar out of reach and dive out of sight in the time it took just to draw breath. It meant we weren’t walking a cut path. We carved it into existence with
every step.”
― Roshani Chokshi, A Crown of Wishes

“He turned to me, mischief glinting in his eyes. “How
do they celebrate good fortune in Bharata? In Ujijain, we kiss.”
“Look elsewhere.”
“Are you sure? You spend an awful amount of time looking at my
lips.”
“That’s only because I’m horrified at the sheer idiocy of the words
leaping out of them.”
― Roshani Chokshi, A Crown of Wishes

“Guilt accretes. It builds and builds, whittling stairways and spires in the heart until a person can carry a city of hopelessness inside them.
My guilt was building a universe.”
― Roshani Chokshi, A Crown of Wishes

“True war isn’t philosophical.”
“All war is philosophical. That’s why we call it war. Strip it of its paint and it’s nothing more than murder.”
― Roshani Chokshi, A Crown of Wishes

“Stop admiring the view,” he said.
“Critiquing it.”
“What do you find lacking? ”
“Honor.”
“Alas. I must have misplaced it.”
― Roshani Chokshi, A Crown of Wishes

“But for the first time, I wanted to believe in the things that outlasted us: the stories that came to life in a child’s head, the fear of the dark, the hunger to live. Those were the footsteps that not even Time could discover and erase, because they lived far out of reach, in the song of blood coursing through veins and in the quiet threads that made up dreams. I wanted to hold the hope of those tales within me and follow it like a lure all the way back to myself.”
― Roshani Chokshi, A Crown of Wishes

“Have some faith.”
“Between faith and distrust, which one is more likely to keep you alive?”
“And which one is more likely to let you experience living?”
I threw up my hands. “Why is everything so philosophical with you?”
He shrugged. “I like thinking.”
― Roshani Chokshi, A Crown of Wishes

“But Vikram had seen through every facet, holding me against the light as if I truly were translucent, and instead of making me feel as if I had been looked through and found wanting, I felt . . . seen.”
― Roshani Chokshi, A Crown of Wishes

“I never dared to hope for someone who challenged
and respected me, knew me at my worst and still coaxed out my best. And yet I had found that in the unlikeliest of places and most inconvenient of people. Wasn’t that enough to fight for? Could I live with knowing that I’d left him standing in the shadows . . . waiting for me?
I couldn’t. And that was all the answer I needed.”
― Roshani Chokshi, A Crown of Wishes

“He stared at me. “Are you done? ”
“Yes.”
“May I get up? ”
“No.”
“I see you like your men with their egos gutted.”
“Only when I’m feeling generous.”
― Roshani Chokshi, A Crown of Wishes

“How do you feel? ”
“Like I will die if I don’t eat this apple.”
He considered this. “Then why don’t you bite it? See what happens.”
“Are you mad? ”
“I prefer curious.”
― Roshani Chokshi, A Crown of Wishes

“In Bharata, I guarded myself. Weakness was a privilege. It divided you, snipped out your secrets and gave every sliver power over you. I didn’t have parts to spare. Bharata called me their Jewel, and maybe I was like one. Not sparkling or precious. But a cold thing wearing a hundred faces. Like facets on a gem. One for every person.”
― Roshani Chokshi, A Crown of Wishes

“You cannot break me with a tale, brother.”

“You’re happy, aren’t you? You’re loved. You love others. I think people are convinced that if you asked the sun not to rise, it would stand down for you. But there’s only one story that people like better than a rise to fame—a fall from grace. And I can make it swift. And I can take all this away. You see, a story is not just a thing told to a child before sleep. A story is control.”
― Roshani Chokshi, A Crown of Wishes

“You’re welcome, by the way, for dragging you back here. I had a couple offers to sell you and almost considered it.”
“Intriguing. For how much? ”
“A bag of gold, the ability to make thunderstorms go to sleep. Something else. Five goats? ”
“Just five goats? I’m worth at least ten. Plus a cow.”
― Roshani Chokshi, A Crown of Wishes

“He reached once more for his book. Instead of his shirt.
“Did you run out of clothes? ”
“No?” He looked down, as if just noticing that he was partially exposed.
“I had to bandage some of the cuts I got after running back here.”
“But you have your bandages on now.”
“Astute as ever, Princess. Am I offending your maidenly senses again? Can I not luxuriate in a single evening without the threat of bodily injury?”
― Roshani Chokshi, A Crown of Wishes

“I didn’t revel in death, but I didn’t hate it either. Death had raised me, like an older sibling. Amidst death, I had found my bearings as a soldier. Surrounded by death, I had found my place as a leader.”
― Roshani Chokshi, A Crown of Wishes

“When I stepped outside, Vikram blinked a couple of times.
“You are surprisingly lovely.”
“You are unsurprisingly insulting.”
― Roshani Chokshi, A Crown of Wishes

“Before I left Alaka, I told Vikram I didn’t know myself. Now I was
staring at the depths of what that meant. Heroine. Savior. Villain. What were those words but different fistfuls of a tale that all depended on who was doing the telling? You see, a story is not just a thing told to a child before sleep. A story is control. I saw it now. Felt the talons of that truth scrape through me.”
― Roshani Chokshi, A Crown of Wishes

“You’re certain that rakshasi fruit is out of your system?” asked Vikram.
“Yes?”
“Good.” He took a deep breath. “Because, once more, I told you so.”
“You do realize that I don’t need the enhancements of demon fruit to knock you to the ground?”
“I do. But I concede that some bodily harm from you is inevitable. I’m just trying to minimize the damage.”
“How very wise,” I said, rolling my eyes.”
― Roshani Chokshi, A Crown of Wishes

“Gauri laughed when he stumbled through the movements of the dance.
“You are a discredit to your title, Vikram. Fox Prince, indeed,” she said. “I’ve never seen a clumsier fox.”
“What I lack in skill, I make up for in enthusiasm.”
“Do you even know how to dance?”
“Not at all,” he said, spinning her in a circle.
“I can tell. Were you lulled by the music?”
“The company.”
“Now you’re just trying to be sly and charming.”
“I am a credit to my title, after all.”
― Roshani Chokshi, A Crown of Wishes

“No magical abilities had ever revealed themselves to me no matter how much I wished for them. But I had a vast source of will. And will was an enchantment that no being could touch because I alone could wield it. That was power.”
― Roshani Chokshi, A Crown of Wishes

“Sometimes weakness wore the face of strength, and sometimes strength wore the face of weakness.”
― Roshani Chokshi, A Crown of Wishes

“Since you can’t respond yet and since you have no claws left, I will take this moment to remind you that you thought eating the demon fruit would be a bad idea. It was not. To which I say—” He drew a deep breath. “—I told you so.”

“Fool,” muttered the vetala.

I snarled and with one last burst of strength, swiped my paw behind Vikram’s knees and sent him tumbling. He gasped.

“I will,” he wheezed, rolling onto his stomach, “take your silence as a form of agreement.”
― Roshani Chokshi, A Crown of Wishes

“He studied it, steepling his long fingers. I groaned. Enough was enough.
“Why do you do that?”
“Do what?”
“That.” I mimicked his hands, flattened my brows and tried to make my eyes look somewhat insane.
“I will have you know that it is my meditative pose.”
“I will have you know that you look ridiculous.”
“What about you?” he asked. He sucked in his cheeks and glowered, pointing at his face and then pointing at me. “What kind of meditative pose is that?”
“It’s not a meditative pose at all,” I shot back.
“My apologies. Is it your bellicose-let-me-drain-your-blood face? Could you not master an expression that looked less like an outraged cat?”
“Better than steepling my hands and looking like an overgrown spider.”
“An overgrown spider who is rarely wrong.”
“My bellicose-let-me-drain-your-blood face has saved your life.”
“And this overgrown-spider pose is about to save yours.”
― Roshani Chokshi, A Crown of Wishes

“As I got older, the scar reminded me of what people would choose to see if you let them. So I smiled at the attendant, and hoped that she saw a dimpled grin, and not the scar from a girl who started training with very sharp things from a very young age.”
― Roshani Chokshi, A Crown of Wishes

“I can’t believe you didn’t have a real weapon on hand,” I said.
“I have my mind,” he said. “You should thank me.”
I raised my chained hands. “I am bursting with gratitude.”
― Roshani Chokshi, A Crown of Wishes

“Is there a reason why you seek every opportunity to annoy me?”
“It’s fun. Your scar flashes when you frown. It almost looks like a dimple,” said Vikram. “I’m still waiting for your face to turn red with anger. It might make you look like you’re blushing. Or perhaps I am making you blush?”
― Roshani Chokshi, A Crown of Wishes

“I would be lying if I said I didn’t feel a flicker of envy. But envy did not make one lovelier. Mother Dhina had taught me that. Beauty, coveted though it was, could not outlive you. Only actions would. I never forgot that. In the harem, I might’ve disliked some girls for the ugliness in their hearts, but never for the beauty of their faces.”
― Roshani Chokshi, A Crown of Wishes

“In the face of that fear, maybe the mind couldn’t help but scrape together feelings toward the only person we had a connection to. That was all it was. A consequence
of survival?”
― Roshani Chokshi, A Crown of Wishes

“I thought you were going to stay away from me," she said.
He looked at her, this princess who seemed so dangerously sharp that he might cut himself just brushing against her shadow.
"I don't know how."
"Then don't.”
― Roshani Chokshi, A Crown of Wishes