Quotes from Beneath the Surface

“Asking isn't what I had in mind,” Sicarius said.
“Yes, I can see that.” Amaranthe planted a hand on his chest, fingers splayed. “Why don’t you give Yara and me a few minutes alone to discuss this? I’ll brief you on whatever we decide to do before we do it. And you can loiter nearby in case anything goes wrong.”
His face didn't soften exactly—and he gave that hand a long look before meeting Amaranthe’s eyes— but the hostility he’d been oozing did seem to lessen. “Assassins don’t loiter,” he said.
The comment startled Evrial, and she wondered if she’d heard it correctly. The man hadn't uttered much that could be classified as humor, not with her around anyway. Maybe he was simply feeling indignant.But Amaranthe smiled. “What do you call it?”
“Standing. Purposefully.”
― Lindsay Buroker, quote from Beneath the Surface

“Are you sure you're not looking for an excuse to stay in the smokestack with me?"

"If we attempt to check on the weapons now, in daylight, we may be spotted."

"Don't worry. You don't have to say it. I know." Amarante patted him on the chest. "It was good for me too.”
― Lindsay Buroker, quote from Beneath the Surface

“It took Evrial a moment to catch on—she was too busy wondering where Amaranthe had heard anything, since she was supposedly staying out of sight in her cabin for the whole trip. “Maid service?Are you suggesting we dress up as servants and clean people’s rooms?”
“
Why, that’s an excellent idea. Thank you for suggesting it.” Amaranthe beamed. Evrial crossed her arms over her chest and added her glower to the glare Sicarius was still sending across the room. She was beginning to see how Maldynado got blamed for so many things that may have not been his fault after all.”
― Lindsay Buroker, quote from Beneath the Surface

“A pale blob appeared on the other side of the glass. Evrial yelped and jumped backward faster than a dog bit by a snake. Her calf caught on the edge of the bed, and she tumbled onto it.
“Good timing,” Amaranthe said.
“What?” Bewildered, Evrial stared at the porthole. Only on the second long look did she recognize the pale blob. It was Sicarius’s face—upside down. Amaranthe pointed to the porthole frame and mouthed something. Sicarius's head rose out of sight. Evrial rolled off the bed, embarrassed by her startled—and ungraceful—stumble.
“I hope you don’t mind,” Amaranthe said, “but I’ll have to let Maldynado know.”
“What?”“
That you are capable of shrieking.”
― Lindsay Buroker, quote from Beneath the Surface

“A soft knock sounded. Amaranthe feared Sicarius had come to collect her for another round of training, but he didn't usually bother knocking. Or being constrained by door locks.”
― Lindsay Buroker, quote from Beneath the Surface

“Sicarius stood behind them, not bothering to hide his face as the breeze rifled through his short blond hair. He hadn’t drawn a weapon yet, and Amaranthe hurried to catch up, to keep him from doing so.
First one security man glanced over his shoulder and jumped, then the second emulated the move.
Sespian lifted a hand. “Don’t hurt—”One of the men pointed to the side of Sicarius, cried, “Look, enforcers!” and hurled himself past Sespian and into the river. The second man squeaked, scuttled backward until his shoulders rammed against the railing, then grabbed it and also propelled himself into the water. His lantern caught and dropped to the deck instead of falling overboard. It clanked and highlighted a dubious puddle before tipping over and winking out. Amaranthe had forgotten how much Sicarius’s reputation affected the average person.”
― Lindsay Buroker, quote from Beneath the Surface

“He doesn’t take anything seriously, and he has the work ethic of a… a… well, an indolent son of the privileged caste. I’ve worked my entire life, and I…” “Take everything seriously?” Amaranthe suggested. Evrial crossed her arms. “Maybe. So, what? Life isn’t a joke.” “No, but it’s easier to enjoy if you can find the humor in even the grim moments. Perhaps it’d be healthy for you to let someone bring a little levity into your life.”
― Lindsay Buroker, quote from Beneath the Surface

“Amaranthe cleared her throat. “Enough girl talk. There are enemy cabins full of dastardly old ladiesthat we must infiltrate.”
― Lindsay Buroker, quote from Beneath the Surface

“Like most of the others, she’d been wearing the same clothing for a week—in her case, a long-sleeved wool shirt and sturdy green trousers with numerous pockets—but, unlike the others, her garb appeared clean and freshly ironed. Even Maldynado rarely looked so crisp—apparently his love of fashion didn’t extend to a love of doing laundry.”
― Lindsay Buroker, quote from Beneath the Surface

“Enough girl talk. There are enemy cabins full of dastardly old ladies that we must infiltrate.” “Unbelievable,” Evrial murmured. “What is?” “That you can say things like that and still get those men to rally behind you.” “Sometimes I also have to gaze into their eyes with youthful exuberance that they find impossible to resist.” Evrial could imagine”
― Lindsay Buroker, quote from Beneath the Surface

“I understand, trust me, and it’s a noble pursuit. But I don’t believe you can improve humanity’s future by being so obsessed with your work that you ignore the human beings around you.”
― Lindsay Buroker, quote from Beneath the Surface

About the author

Popular quotes

“You’re the reason that my life wound up being worth anything angel, and I swear to you that I’ll move Heaven and Earth to be worthy of you, always.”
― Ella Fox, quote from Loving Hart

“There’s people who do things and people who never do—who say they will someday, but they just don’t. I want to go on a quest. I’ve always wanted to go on a quest. And now that I have one, I’m not backing down from it. I’m not going home until it’s complete.”
― Holly Black, quote from Doll Bones

“Other times, I look at my scars and see something else: a girl who was trying to cope with something horrible that she should never have had to live through at all. My scars show pain and suffering, but they also show my will to survive. They're part of my history that'll always be there.”
― Cheryl Rainfield, quote from Scars

“The girl was eighty percent kitten and twenty percent lioness, and he considered it his mission to make her roar.”
― Kitty French, quote from Knight & Play

“Lilli . . . Lilli . . . Lilli.”

Sweet Jesus, she was going to kill him. She’d just gotten to sleep. Now he was running a finger up and down her spine, saying her name in an extremely life-threatening singsong voice.”
― Susan Fanetti, quote from Move the Sun

Interesting books

About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.