The Lotus Empire Quotes

“The sacrifices made in this war would have to be enough. Malini was monstrous enough to seize a throne and murder a brother. She was monstrous enough to continue the glorious, bloody cruelty of empire. She had made herself so.
She would choose now to be monstrous enough to let an enemy live, for the sake of keeping what was hers. She would choose love over goodness.
Let future generations face the yaksa once more. Let the rot continue. Only, let me have her.”
― Tasha Suri, The Lotus Empire

“I am a good liar, Malini thought. It is not my fault you see through me, as if every mask I wear is nothing but gauze, and my love for you a lamp.”
― Tasha Suri, The Lotus Empire

“I have faith in your humanity. In all of you that is broken and hurtful. I have faith in all of you that is mortal. You have many faces, Priya. The mortal one, the flawed one, and the one with power, this immortal one—they’re all mine. If you will allow it. They’re all mine.”
― Tasha Suri, The Lotus Empire

“Then live. I won’t allow you to die,” Malini said, her voice low. “I have no better leverage to use against you than my own life. If you die, then I die. So you will have to live.”
― Tasha Suri, The Lotus Empire

“I’m here. I had the world in my palm, and I found it wanting. I’m a greedy creature, Priya. I came here for you. There is a flower in my heart, and it grew for you.”
― Tasha Suri, The Lotus Empire

“We leave together, or not at all,” Malini said quietly. “I’ve chosen.” A rattling breath. “But you have—no faith. To burn.” “I have no faith in the mothers,” whispered Malini. “But I have faith in you.” Malini lowered her into the water. And let go.”
― Tasha Suri, The Lotus Empire

“What does it matter,” Malini said, her voice splintering. “If I don’t
have you? If you are gone where I cannot see you or feel you or dream
you again, then what is any of it worth to me?”
― Tasha Suri, The Lotus Empire

“There will always be men like you,” Rao agreed, pinning him harder. It was easy. “But they will not be you. That’s enough for me.”
― Tasha Suri, The Lotus Empire

“I don’t kill you because it is right or good, or because any great sense of justice compels me to,” Rao told him. “I am killing you because you deserve to die, and the world will be better with you gone. I am killing you because you do not deserve to choose the shape of your own death.”
― Tasha Suri, The Lotus Empire

“She felt no pain at the thought yet. She knew now from experience that a grave wound was often painless when fresh because the hurt of it was too great for the mind to grasp. The agony would come later.”
― Tasha Suri, The Lotus Empire

“He wanted to see stars under a new sky.
It would be like walking straight into a fire that couldn't burn or break you. A light of possibility.”
― Tasha Suri, The Lotus Empire

“Priya, the world is vast and strange, and it is mine. I have the kind of power men die for, and yet I tire of it. I remember a dream of garlanding you and I think —
— I think it is more powerful and strange than any crown. To live without masks. To swim through rage and grief and rise, alive, on the other side.”
― Tasha Suri, The Lotus Empire

“I need you to understand this now. For all that I have lost, I am glad I never lost you.”
― Tasha Suri, The Lotus Empire

“If Mani Ara comes out of the water wearing my face—Malini, you won’t even know.”
“If Mani Ara comes from the waters wearing your face, I will know.”
― Tasha Suri, The Lotus Empire