89
" It was when she returned to him, chilled & clearheaded, that it happened. He sat against the tree, his knees bent & his head in his hands. His shoulders slumped. Tired, unhappy. Something tender caught in her breath at the sight of him. And then he raised his eyes and looked at her, and she saw what she had not seen before. She gasped.
His eyes were beautiful. His face was beautiful to her in every way, and his shoulders and hands. And his arms that hung over his knees, and his chest that was not moving, because he held his breath as he watched her. And the heart in his chest. This friend. How had she not seen this before? How had she not seen him? She was blind. And then tears choked her eyes, for she had not asked for this. She had not asked for this beautiful man before her, with something hopeful in his eyes that she did not want. "
― , Graceling (Graceling Realm, #1)
98
" He'd kept every note she'd written him, and kept his three or four favourites in the envelope in his pocket, always. And the envelope was gone. [...]
"What's wrong?" said Hava, who was watching him with rising impatience.
What was wrong was that Giddon was realizing, with a bright white clarity he'd never had before, that a person did not keep notes like that from a friend, carrying them around like something precious, like treasure, for no reason. It wasn't normal, it wasn't a routine thing to do, and Giddon had never wanted to be Bitterblue's confidant and counselor when she searched for a husband. He'd loved her. "
― , Winterkeep (Graceling Realm, #4)