Heulo

“And there in the dark, he asks if it was really worth it.
Were the instants of joy worth the stretches of sorrow?
Were the moments of beauty worth the year of pain?
And she turns her head, and looks at him, and says 'Always.”
― V.E. Schwab, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

“I was … at the Tengu’s home.” When his eyes went wide with a mixture of horror and anger, she rushed on. “He’s not the best host, but he isn’t that bad. He brought food, but he wouldn’t get me a brush for my hair and he got mad when I asked for something else to wear. His crows wanted to eat me but he told them to leave me—” “His crows what?”
― Annette Marie, Dark Tempest

“My mother had raised me on a thousand stories of girls who were saved by the Djinn, princesses rescued from towers, peasant girls rescued from poverty.
Turned out, stories were just stories.
I was on my own.”
― Alwyn Hamilton, Traitor to the Throne

“Is there a reason you keep coming back injured when I leave you for five seconds, or is it---" His voice carried too loud, and I clapped a hand over his mouth, shutting him up.
"Don't flatter yourself," I said quietly. "I'm always getting injured when you're around, too.”
― Alwyn Hamilton, Traitor to the Throne