Shazad Quotes

“He held out a foreign-looking sword to Shazad. "Are you as good as Amani says you are?"
"No, I'm even better." Shazad grabbed the blade out of his hand.”
― Alwyn Hamilton, Traitor to the Throne

“You almost died," Mahdi said again, like we might be too stupid to understand. "You say that like it's the first time I've ever had a gun pointed at me," I retorted as Shazad rolled her eyes. "It's not even the first time this month.”
― Alwyn Hamilton, Traitor to the Throne

“The guns weren't of Mirajin make. Amonpourian. Stupid-looking things. Ornate and carved, made by hand instead of machine, and charged at twice what they were worth because someone had gone to the trouble of making them pretty. It didn't matter how pretty something was, it'd kill you just as dead. That, I'd learned from Shazad.”
― Alwyn Hamilton, Traitor to the Throne

“Then, one hot day, as she walked through the market in Izman, the general's daughter met the Rebel Prince. And she finally found the war that she was meant to fight. And in turn, she, too, became a general to a great ruler.”
― Alwyn Hamilton

“The Beautiful General stood up over and over again for those who couldn't stand for themselves, and others stood with her. And she won every fight, one after the other, the way her father had taught her to.

Until the day she lost.

The general's daughter was punished for daring to ask for a better world. She was sent deep into the darkness, hidden away, where a good death would never find her.
...

And for once she could find no escape, not even with her quick and clever mind. For the first time, the general's daughter was forced to watch instead of standing to fight.
...

The Beautiful General's back ached from bowing it when she didn't want to. Her eyes hurt from turning away when men and women burned. Her throat pained from being silent. So the general loosened her tongue, opened her eyes, and straightened her back. And she stood up to walk into death...”
― Alwyn Hamilton, Hero at the Fall

“So how does a woman know how to fight man to man?" another boy sniggered, loud enough so that he was heard. Shazad's eyebrows went up. I stepped back.
...

"I'll tell you what," Shazad turned toward him. "Why don't you come and face me? Anyone who can land a blow can take over this training." A small audience was gathering by now. Everyone who'd ever seen Shazad fight knew exactly where this was going. The rebels were elbowing one another slyly as the boy stepped forward, looking all too confident.
...

"Doesn't seem like a fair fight to me," the boy said, too lightly. The boy was at least twice Shazad's weight, broad where she was slim--slimmer still, after her time in Eremot.
...

"It's not even close to a fair fight," Jin commented from the sidelines. We'd all formed a circle now, watching.
...

"Oh, my friend," Sam clapped the boy on his back. "I'm sorry for your loss."

"My loss?" The young idiot said.

"Of your dignity." He gave him a rueful smile before stepping back to stand next to me.”
― Alwyn Hamilton, Hero at the Fall

“Shazad embraced me last. "Bring each other home safe," she said finally, before letting me go and looking at Sam.

His mouth pulled up at the side, and I recognized the prelude to a joke--some gallows humor before we all headed off to try our hardest to stay alive to see another dawn like the one rising behind us now.

But before he could say anything, Shazad grabbed the front of his shirt and yanked him toward her abruptly, kissing him squarely on the mouth.

And suddenly everyone else was looking at their feet. Or at the sky. Or just about anything that wasn't Sam and Shazad.

That was one way to shut him up. Finally the two of them broke apart. "Well," Sam said, looking flushed and unbearably pleased with himself as he riffled his hands through his hair. "That's one hell of a motivation to come back alive.”
― Alwyn Hamilton, Hero at the Fall

“Shazad--" I heard myself say. Shazad had told us to bring each other back. Not for him to save me. For us to save each other.

Sam's mouth pulled up a little on the side. "Didn't I tell you?" He forced a broad smile. "All the greatest love stories end like this.”
― Alwyn Hamilton, Hero at the Fall

“I could barely breathe through the agony, but I heard Rahim call out, "Is everyone still alive?"
...

"Yeah, call out if you're dead," Sam added. And Shazad laughed. Then I was laughing, too. And I couldn't stop. Because it was ridiculous and impossible, what we had just done. But I had managed it. And we were all still alive.”
― Alwyn Hamilton, Hero at the Fall

“How did you find me?"

"Sam sold you out,"

"Should I be flattered he tore his eyes off Shazad long enough to notice anyone else?”
― Alwyn Hamilton, Hero at the Fall

“Commander Rahim!" She wrenched forward to meet him though one of our rebels still held her. "Let me go!" She turned, and with all the force in her tiny body, she slammed her heel down on his instep, forcing him to let her go with a violent string of curses far from fit for a little girl's ears.
...

"I like her," Shazad said. "Here's hoping she's on our side."
...

"I taught her that," Rahim said, with a hint of pride in his voice.”
― Alwyn Hamilton, Hero at the Fall