The Bride of Death Quotes

“Rarely were women hailed as heroes or were ballads sung for them. Rarely were they written of in epics. Nobody ever looked at the wives who raised families while men fought wars. Nobody ever spoke of the women who took up the jobs of men while they marched into battle. Nobody ever spoke of the women who donned the dress of their brothers and became national heroes.”
― F.M. Aden, The Bride of Death

“Hurt me,” she dared, “and I will hurt you twice as much. I will break you into a million pieces and scatter the drops of your essence throughout the Underworld. I will swallow the dark of your eyes and I will drape myself in your bones. I will take the shadows for my children and braid the petals of dread in my hair. And you will be known forevermore not as the devil, but as my dead husband.”
― F.M. Aden, The Bride of Death

“He kissed her, depraved and hungry, brushing harsh kisses to her neck, teeth digging hard enough to bruise, as if he sought to mark her with his touch. As if he intended to bury himself in her skin and make a home of her bones.”
― F.M. Aden, The Bride of Death

“Cut her wings,” Erlik said, his face hard. “Now.” “No!” Zerryn cried out as the guards came toward them. Yağmur was the first, swinging her blade in a dramatic arc. “I will give you my soul.” Erlik held up a hand, and they paused. “You accept my bargain?” Erlik asked in an indifferent tone. “Yes,” she said.”
― F.M. Aden, The Bride of Death

“Do I have your permission to speak?” he asked, though he did not wait for her to say so before he silenced her. “I do not desire you.”
― F.M. Aden, The Bride of Death

“Do you challenge me, child?” Azra Kaya cackled. “With that needle.” “Come, then,” Zerryn said, her voice surprisingly steady. “And we shall see who becomes food for the wolves.”
― F.M. Aden, The Bride of Death

“You have four arms?” Zerryn gasped. “I have four eyes. It was safe to assume I also had four arms.”
― F.M. Aden, The Bride of Death

“Very well,” Zerryn said. “If you help me, I shall grant you a favor once I am queen.”
― F.M. Aden, The Bride of Death

“Some monsters can only be freed by death,” she whispered. “Remember that Zerryn.”
― F.M. Aden, The Bride of Death

“...and tell me if you see me celebrating. Look at me and tell me if I look whole. I have never experienced a loss that had the potential to unravel me. I have never felt a love so consuming it threatened to undo me. You are my every thought. You are my reason for existing. I cannot fathom a life without you. And I never want to be apart from you again. I would forsake my throne, the Underworld and all my dark creations if it mean that you'd be mine. There is no price that I would not pay to be with you.”
― F.M. Aden, The Bride of Death

“You are not nothing," he whispered. "It is I who come to you crawling, a rabid dog hungry for your attention. An unworthy peasant grabbing at your hem. It is you who refuses me always. You who remain unswayed by my power and beauty and might. You who insults and soothes me. You are the one in power, and you have brought me to my knees.”
― F.M. Aden, The Bride of Death

“You may think me a monster, but remember, Zerryn, that I protect my family, always. And if you are so lucky as to be called mine, there is nothing I won't do to keep you safe.”
― F.M. Aden, The Bride of Death