Clair

“I'll tell you a story, I whispered. It always helped me sleep as a child.
He nodded, folding his hands over his lap, and closed his eyes.
There once was a girl, clever and good, who tarried in shadow in the depths of the wood. There also was a King, a shepherd by his crook, who reigned over magic and wrote the old book. The two were together, so the two-
I couldn't go on.
Elspeth.
No. I'm not ready. Not yet.
Finish the story, dear one.
My voice shook. The two were together-
Together.
So the two were the same.
The girl, he whispered, honey and oil and silk.
The King...
We said the final words together, our voices echoing, listless, through the dark. A final note. An eternal farewell. And the monster they became.”
― Rachel Gillig, Two Twisted Crowns

“You think you are the most frightening creature in these woods, but you’re not,” I said to the raven. “I am.”
― Sara Hashem, The Jasad Heir

“You’re the most beautiful woman that I’ve ever seen,” he says simply.”
― Ali Hazelwood, Mate

“I wanted to cut him open and compare our bones to understand why his gave him grace and mine gave me back pain.”
― Sara Hashem, The Jasad Heir