Quintana of Charyn Quotes

“Our bodies aren't strangers,' he said, his voice ragged. 'Our spirits aren't strangers'. He held her face in his hands. 'Tell me what part of me is stranger to you and I'll destroy that part of me.'
And she wept to hear his words.”
― Melina Marchetta, Quintana of Charyn

“Do you love me?’ he asked instead. ‘Because if you don’t, I’d wait until you did. I’d wait weeks and months and years.”
― Melina Marchetta, Quintana of Charyn

“What if she's all I give you in this life of ours, my love?" she asked quietly.
"Then I'll shout at the goddess in fury," he said fiercely. "I'll beg to know why I've been given so much when other men have so little.”
― Melina Marchetta, Quintana of Charyn

“But she stepped forward and placed a finger to his lips and there it was before him. The greatest prayer to the gods he could muster with a heart so broken. Don't let me outlive this woman. Don't let me exist one moment without her.”
― Melina Marchetta, Quintana of Charyn

“Land?' Froi whispered. 'You're giving them land? I'm not worth the valley.'

'You're worth a kingdom,' Finnikin said, turning back to the crowd.”
― Melina Marchetta, Quintana of Charyn

“You said to me once that you weren’t what I dreamed of. You were right. You surpass everything I dreamed of. Even the rot in you that’s caused you to do shameful things. Some men let the rot and guilt fester into something ugly beyond words. Few men can turn it into worth and substance. If you’re gods’ blessed for no other reason, it’s for that.”
― Melina Marchetta, Quintana of Charyn

“Our spirit is mightier than the filth of our memories.”
― Melina Marchetta, Quintana of Charyn

“She made a sound of regret. ‘We come second, you and I, Luc-ien,’ she said. ‘Our allegiance is always to our kingdoms. Without that allegiance, our people would fall.’

She placed her head back against his chest and he felt her tears. ‘This is not our time.’

‘But that will never mean I love you less,’ he said.”
― Melina Marchetta, Quintana of Charyn

“Why are you smiling?' Gargarin asked Froi, from across the balconette. 'When you're going to have to learn a lesson in diplomacy today and choose between the gardens of two women?'

Froi laughed, his chin resting on Quintana's head, his eyes taking in the joy of his son, despite the ridiculous cap that covered the babe's head. He looked across at Lirah and Arjuro and Rafuel, and then back to Gargarin who was smiling himself, because he knew the answer to his own question.

'Because today, I think I'm leaning on the side of wonder.”
― Melina Marchetta, Quintana of Charyn

“In the games of queens and kings, we leave our dreams at the door and we make do with what we have. Sometimes if we’re fortunate, we still manage to have a good life.”
― Melina Marchetta, Quintana of Charyn

“Do I have to be here to belong to you?' Froi asked. 'Can't I belong to you wherever I am?”
― Melina Marchetta, Quintana of Charyn

“then she was laughing. They both were, and the savage teeth were the most joyous sight Phaedra had seen for a long time. It was as if they were dancing. There it was. Suddenly the strangeness of Quintana of Charyn's face made sense. Because it was a face meant for laughing, but it had never been given a chance.”
― Melina Marchetta, Quintana of Charyn

“People aren’t interested in the truth, Dafar. They’re interested in what keeps them safe. They’re interested in being looked after. They’re interested in a tale being spun... Mighty men have moments of great despair that common people do not want to know about.”
― Melina Marchetta, Quintana of Charyn

“Because today, I think I'm leaning on the side of wonder.”
― Melina Marchetta, Quintana of Charyn

“Oh, you're one of those,' the princess said.

'One of what?'

'One of those who needs to be told their worth over and over by others. Do you know who tells me my worth, Phaedra of Alonso?'

The princess pointed a hard finger at her own chest.

'Me. I determine my own worth. If I had to rely on others I'd have lain down and died waiting.”
― Melina Marchetta , Quintana of Charyn

“Froi saw the rage in Arjuro’s eyes, his clenched fists.

‘If I could find the men who did those things to you as a child I would tear them limb from limb.’

Froi embraced him.

‘One day,’ Froi said, clearing his voice of emotion, ‘I’ll introduce you to my queen and my king and my captain; and Lord August and Lady Abian, who have given me a home; and the Priestking and Perri and Tesadora and my friend Lucian; and then you’ll understand that I would never have met them if you hadn’t journeyed to Sarnak all those years ago, Arjuro. And if the gods were to give me a choice between living a better life, having not met them, or a wretched life with the slightest chance of crossing their path, then I'd pick the wretched life over and over again.’

He kissed Arjuro’s brow. Finnikin called it a blessing between two male blood kin. It always had made Froi ache seeing it between Finnikin and Trevanion.

‘I'd live it again just to have crossed all of your paths. Keep safe, Arjuro. Keep safe so I can bring your brother home to you.”
― Melina Marchetta, Quintana of Charyn

“It is what a man does for strangers that counts more than what he does for his family.”
― Melina Marchetta, Quintana of Charyn

“And through all the misery, she said that some of us in this lifetime experience a moment of beauty beyond reckoning. I asked her what that was, and she said, "If you're one of the lucky ones, you'll know it when you see it. You'll understand why the gods have made you suffer. Because that moment's reward will make your knees weak and everything you've suffered in life will pale in comparison.”
― Melina Marchetta, Quintana of Charyn

“Oh, you've outdone me twice now, you queen of forgiveness. The ring's a promise of peace and I'm greedy with hope. It's a song that we sing in a tongue that we share. And though you say it's a gift from a king to a king, I say it's a sign from a queen to a queen.”
― Melina Marchetta, Quintana of Charyn

“Don’t look down,’ Perabo warned them when they almost reached the top and the view from the archways became imposing.

Froi sensed Perabo was instructing himself more than the others.

‘You obviously haven’t been imprisoned on the roof of a castle in the Citavita, Perabo,’ Lirah said.

‘Or hung upside down over a balconette staring down into the gravina, waiting to die,’ Gargarin added.

‘Nothing worse than being chained to the balconette with your head facing down over that abyss,’ Arjuro joined in, not one to be outdone in the misery stakes.

‘Try balancing on a piece of granite between the godshouse and the palace with nothing beneath you but air,’ Froi said.

Perabo stopped and took a deep breath and looked as if he was going to be sick.

‘Don’t look down, Perabo,’ Froi advised.”
― Melina Marchetta, Quintana of Charyn

“You've been quiet these past days," Trevanion said. "Are you going to tell me what the...exchange of words was about?"

"Who said there was an exchange of words?" Finnikin asked with irritation.

"When a woman says 'I hope you fall under your horse' and 'catch your death, then see if I grieve you,'" Perri said, "then there's been an exchange of words."

Finnikin glared at him.

"In my humble opinion.”
― Melina Marchetta, Quintana of Charyn

“You were never able to break her. She is the stone of this kingdom.”
― Melina Marchetta, Quintana of Charyn

“I can live without you,’ she said. ‘I can live without a man I’ve only known for one hundred and eighty days.’

‘And how have those calculations helped?’ he demanded to know.

She didn’t respond except for a look down her nose at him and a curl of her lip. So much for the angry half-spirits being responsible for the savages within them both. This was pure Quintana.

‘Then step away,’ he taunted. ‘If you can live without me, step away.’
He felt her warm breath on his throat.

‘Because you can’t,’ he said. ‘You think you can, but we’re bound, and not just by the gods or by a curse or even by our son. We are bound by our free will. And you can’t step away, because you are not willing.’

He bent, his mouth close to hers.
‘Step away,’ he whispered. ‘If you step away I’ll learn from you. I’ll find the desire in me to live without you. Much the same as you want to live without me.”
― Melina Marchetta, Quintana of Charyn

“Phaedra looked across the water and her eyes met Lucian’s. Their needs came second. It came from the privilege of being trusted.

But that doesn’t mean I love you less.”
― Melina Marchetta, Quintana of Charyn

“Do you want to know something about tyrants? When faced with death, they weep and they beg just like the rest of us.”
― Melina Marchetta, Quintana of Charyn

“We pass more women with swollen bellies hurrying towards the godshouse and Arjuro presses a kiss to Tariq's outstretched fingers.

'She's mocking me, runt of our litter,' Arjuro tells him. 'The Oracle is mocking me for choosing a man to share my bed. And her punishment is that I spend the rest of eternity staring between the legs of women.”
― Melina Marchetta, Quintana of Charyn

“There it was. Suddenly the strangeness of Quintana of Charyn's face made sense. Because it was a face meant for laughing, but it had never been given a chance. It robbed Phaedra of her breath.”
― Melina Marchetta, Quintana of Charyn

“Froi saw the foolishness of dreamers, and he decided he'd like to die so foolish. With a dream in his heart about the possibilities, rather than a chain of hopelessness.”
― Melina Marchetta, Quintana of Charyn

“Brothers always. Balthazar is with us too. We make this work,' Finnikin said fiercely. 'We bring peace to these kingdoms. We deserve it. Our women do. All of us have lost too much, Froi. We've lost the joy of being children. Let's not take that from Jasmina and Tariq and those who come after them”
― Melina Marchetta, Quintana of Charyn

“But what if I don't?" she argued. "I don't know him. How can I love one that I don't know? I'm frightened to see him. I've never seen a little creature. How will I know he's not all wrong?"

"And if he is all wrong, what will you do?" Froi had asked.

She thought for a moment. "I'll hold him tight and tell him that we'll be wrong for this world together.”
― Melina Marchetta, Quintana of Charyn