Sea of Charms Quotes

“Books aren’t worth more than your life.”
“We will agree to disagree on that.”
― Sarah Beth Durst, Sea of Charms

“The Great Library of Alyssium was always her favorite sight in the city. Many stories tall with multiple wings, multiple towers, and multiple spires, it was a work of art made of carved stone and bejeweled with stained glass windows. Where the conservatory was a sugar-spun cake, the library was a jeweler’s masterwork.
Each spire’s windows represented a different time of day: the eastern spire was the pink and lemon of dawn, and the colors cycled from there, through midday blue and white to the rich hues of sunset, all the way through the blue-black velvet of midnight in the southernmost spire.”
― Sarah Beth Durst, Sea of Charms

“Ahead, on the dock, she saw a flock of winged cats clustered around a figure: a man, skinny and tall, with startlingly purple hair and two crystalline horns that curled into spirals like the spires of the conservatory itself. She couldn’t help but notice, not for the first time, that he was stunningly handsome, in a carefully curated work-of-art kind of way. Dax was as delicate as the roses that bloomed on the stone latticework, as precisely perfect as the mosaics, and as ethereal as the flute music that drifted down the staircase behind him. He looked as if he’d never faced wind peppered with sand and salt, as if the sun had never dared burn his skin, as if he’d never been touched by the world and certainly never been hurt by it. It made her want to wrap him in soft cotton and hold him close, which was a patently absurd way to feel about a grown man who neither needed nor had asked for her coddling.”
― Sarah Beth Durst, Sea of Charms

“Wind whistled in her ears and pulled at the silver ribbon in her hair but didn’t loosen it. She’d experimented a lot with the best knot for her hair ribbon and was rather proud of this one. It would stay.
Ahead, she spotted the eastern gate to Alyssium. It was an archway of carved marble, decorated with the shapes of sea creatures. From a distance, she could see only the carving of a kraken with its tentacles wrapped around the arch, but closer, she spotted images of sea serpents, merhorses, mermaids, dolphins, sharks, schools of fish, lobsters, crabs, and coral, as well as hints of rarer animals: the seal cats of the northeast, the snake squid of the deeper regions, the deer of the kelp forest, and the flower fish of the Anjanaz Reef who bloomed only in moonlight.”
― Sarah Beth Durst, Sea of Charms

“Ahead, she spotted the eastern gate to Alyssium. It was an archway of carved marble, decorated with the shapes of sea creatures. From a distance, she could see only the carving of a kraken with its tentacles wrapped around the arch, but closer, she spotted images of sea serpents, merhorses, mermaids, dolphins, sharks, schools of fish, lobsters, crabs, and coral, as well as hints of rarer animals: the seal cats of the northeast, the snake squid of the deeper regions, the deer of the keel forest, and the flower fish of the Anjanaz Reef who bloomed only in moonlight.”
― Sarah Beth Durst, Sea of Charms

“It was a "look what you missed asshole" kind of dress, and she thought it was lowkey hilarious that her parents had purchased it for her.”
― Sarah Beth Durst, Sea of Charms

“When he was still with her two days later, she gave him a name: Perri.
And when the people on the docks she visited asked how she’d befriended a sea serpent, she told them the truth: “I didn’t. He befriended me.” All she’d done was save his life, which didn’t seem nearly as impressive a feat as becoming her friend.”
― Sarah Beth Durst, Sea of Charms

“Settling in, Marin sailed away from the painted cliffs and the twin islands of the lovers. The wind was strong and steady, and the sun was warm on her silvery arms and cheeks. It caressed her as if welcoming her back from the rainbow shadows of the Painted Pass.
In the distance, she spotted a herd of merhorses. She watched them crest with the waves, sea spray flying from their manes as their tails propelled them through the water. It wasn’t every day one got to see a sea serpent, much less rescue one. She’d treasure this memory.”
― Sarah Beth Durst, Sea of Charms

“Beside her, the sea serpent trumpeted back. He dove through the waves like a dolphin breaching, and his iridescent scales glistened in the sun. Back in the water, his wounds were washed clean, and she could see they hadn’t been deep— scrapes from his attempts to free himself from the rocks. Not much worse than her knee.
“You’re welcome,” she called, “and thank you!”
She had no idea how intelligent sea serpents were, but the ride out from between the cliffs had to have been intentional. She’d saved him, so he returned the favor. “We’re even now!” Marin waved to him.
He propelled himself out of the water and arched in the air like a rainbow, before diving back between the waves. It was such a magnificent sight that she forgot to breathe, only remembering when his tail disappeared beneath the surface of the sea.”
― Sarah Beth Durst, Sea of Charms

“Such blue eyes, as deep a blue as the ocean when the moon shone on it.
She knew what he saw: a wooden boat with silver sails that he could crush if he could reach it, piloted by a fragile human with silvery skin that matched her sails and white-and-black-striped hair tied back with a silver ribbon. She must look to him like salvation. Or lunch.”
― Sarah Beth Durst, Sea of Charms

“Countless tales and songs had been written about the cliffs of Iro and Nane: they'd been painted by two lovers, one who lived on one island and one on another. Their parents had forbidden them to marry, and so they painted their love in the colors of sunrise and sunset. Discovering this, their families had tried to wash the paint away, but the very rocks had been stained by the two artists' love and, regardless of how hard their relatives scrubbed and chipped at the stone, the colors didn't fade, until at last, both families relented and allowed the two to marry. To this day, no wind or rain or sea could dim the colors.
Granted, there was also the more prosaic explanation- it was just minerals in the rocks acting as a natural dye. But Marin liked the love story better. If she was never going to have her own great love- and she was done with ever wanting that- then she'd treasure the fictional ones even more.”
― Sarah Beth Durst, Sea of Charms