Katie

“He felt a chill on the back of his neck. It was self-doubt, the black beetle that had pursued him all his life, pinching at him, poisoning his every success, whispering in his ear about his flaws and his failures and his unworthiness. He hadn't felt it in months, but the pinprick of its claws was instantly familiar. They informed him with their tiny tattoo that he had almost certainly done something immensely, irrevocably, and unforgivably stupid.”
― Megan Whalen Turner, A Conspiracy of Kings

“The magus said thoughtfully, "That lying little monster complained about everything: the food, the horses, the blankets, the company. He even found fault with the stories I told by the fire but I cannot recall that he ever once complained about the climbing."
"So many things are obvious in retrospect, aren't they?" I said.”
― Megan Whalen Turner, A Conspiracy of Kings

“I wouldn't destroy an entire house to destroy one man. But I would destroy a man to destroy a house.”
― Megan Whalen Turner, The King of Attolia

“If the king could make a throne seem like a stool fit for a printer's apprentice, the queen could make a rumpled bedspread into a throne.”
― Megan Whalen Turner, The King of Attolia