Home > Work > The Crown of Embers (Fire and Thorns, #2)
1 " ...alone is such a nebulous state when one is queen. "
― Rae Carson , The Crown of Embers (Fire and Thorns, #2)
2 " Later, when we've found this mysterious ship of Hector's and are safely away, when I have time to rest and worry and a quiet corner to hide in, I will coldly remember that being a queen means being strategic. And I will imagine sending off the man I love to marry my sister. I'll rehearse it in my head, maybe. Get used to the feeling. "
3 " Given a choice between my life and yours, I will choose mine. Every time. Without hesitation. "
4 " I can heal." the words are out of my mouth before I think to censor them.'What? You can?" His green eyes narrow. "You never said."I stick a finger in his chest. "You. Never. Asked."His brief moment of startlement dissolves into desperate laughter."And yet you can't even call your stone's fire, which is the easiest, most basic power. You might be a worse failure than even me. "
5 " You made me cut and dye my hair.”Surely he understands that we face greater problems? “I thought it would greatly improve your looks,” I snap.“Shorn hair is a sign of shame. You humiliate me greatly.”“I’ll light a candle tonight in honor of your dead tresses. "
6 " But none of it will be real. None of them will want me. My throne, yes. Prestige. A conquest. But not me. "
7 " My supposed destiny can drown itself in the deepest part of the sea. Along with everyone else's plans for me. "
8 " His gaze drops to my lips. "I shouldn't do this--""You really should." And I close the distance between us. "
9 " I want to be queen of this great country not because someone is holding my hand,but because I can do it.Me.Elisa. "
10 " I love you the way a drowning man loves air. And it would destroy me to have you just a little. "
11 " A quarterstaff is not very subtle. Or handy. If an kidnapper comes at me, what am I supposed to do? Say, 'Excuse me, my lord, while I pull my enormous quarterstaff out of my bodice? "
12 " Yes, I love him. Enough to follow him anywhere. "
13 " I lie awake for a long time, wondering which would be more foolish, to prepare for something that may never happen, or not to prepare for something that might. "
14 " If I were an enemy, and I started bearing down on you like this," he draws his sword, stretches the tip towards me, takes a single step in my direction, "what would you do?" Possibilities race through my head. Should I look for a weapon? Dodge and come up behind his guard? Trip him? Insult his mother? "
15 " No, no." I motion vaguely. "Relax. Don't look so... guardlike." They drop formation at once, glancing at one another shamefaced. Hector draped an arm around my shoulder as if we were out for a companionable stroll. He leans down and says, "So. Horrible heat we've been having lately. "
16 " Mara hurries over and takes my hands. "Er, congratulations on your pending nuptials?"I whisper, "He'll be so angry when he learns I have engaged us without his knowledge. "
17 " The fifth place is for Hector. "
18 " I need to marry Hector "
19 " I won't lie to you. There is always a cost. All I can gurantee is that it will be the right thing.""It's insane," he says, but without vehemence."It's faith," I say. "
20 " It's nice to consider that God may not count imperfection as an obstacle to working out his will in the world. "