Majesty

But we fell in love, day by day, he’d said. Real love comes from facing life together, with all its messes and surprises and joys.

A destiny was something that happened to you, that fell upon you like rain no matter how desperately you try to hide from it. But if you walked toward it with your head held high, then it wasn't your fate - it was simply your future.

Maybe we can't care deeply about someone without being hurt by them, too.

Real love comes from facing life together, with all its messes and surprises and joys.

Connor wanted to charge in like a knight in shining amour, offering to rescue her. Whereas Teddy gave her the confidence to rescue herself.

That was what you did with family, wasn't it? You grabbed hold of them and didn't let go. You supported each other's weight, held each other up, even when you lacked the strength to stand on your own.

It’s not my fault that most things worth doing are against the rules

Oh, ‘it had to be done’?” he repeated. “Daphne, some of us actually want to keep our best friends, not push them down staircases

The future didn’t belong to people like Robert anymore. It belonged to her and Teddy, to Samantha and Jeff. To their entire generation of people, who were all dreaming and fighting and doing their best to make the world a better place.

You are as strong as you need to be.

From now on, it's you and me.

Maybe it’s inevitable that we’re going to be hurt, when we let other people in. Maybe we can’t care deeply for someone without being hurt by them, too,” she said softly.

Underneath that skin they were the same, a frame of bones supporting a tangle of nerves and muscles and a steadily beating heart. It seemed ridiculous that anyone should care what color wrapped around it all.

You don't have to say that," she insisted. "I mean - I'll understand, if you hate me." "I could never hate you, Bee. I just...I miss you." There was no reproach in Connor's words, only a weary, unflinching truth. "I miss you, too." she said, and meant it. Beatrice's tears were coming more freely now, but that wasn't surprising. Nothing in life hurt more than hurting the people you loved. Yet Beatrice knew she had to say all of this. She and Connor had loved each other too fiercely for her to let him go without a proper goodbye. "I am...forever changed by you," she added, her voice catching. "I gave you part of my heart a long time ago, and I've never gotten it back." "You don't need it back." His voice was rough with unshed tears. "I swear that I'll keep it safe. Everywhere I go, that part of you will come with me, and I will guard and treasure it. Always." A sob escaped her chest. She hurt for Connor and with Connor and because of Connor, all at once. This wasn't how breakups were meant to go. In the movies they always seemed so hateful, with people yelling and throwing things at each other. They weren't meant to be like this, tender and gentle and full of heartache. "Okay," she replied, through her tears. "That part of my heart is yours to keep." Connor stepped back, loosening his hand from hers, and Beatrice felt the thread between them pull taut and finally snap. She imagined that she could hear it - a crisp sort of sound, like the stem of a rose being snapped in two. Her body felt strangely sore, or maybe it was her heart that felt sore, recognizing the parts of it that she had given away, forever. "You're such an amazing person, Connor. I hope you find someone who deserves you." Again he attempted a crooked smile. "It won't be easy on her, trying to live up to the queen. For a small person, you cast quite the shadow," he said, and then his features grew serious once more. "Bee - if you ever need me, I'll be there for you. You know that, right?" She swallowed against a lump in her throat. "The same promise holds for me, too. I'm always here if you need me." As she spoke, the steel panel began to lift back into the ceiling. Beatrice straightened her shoulders beneath the cool silk of the gown, drew in a breath. Somehow she managed to gather up the tattered shreds of her self-control, as if she wasn't a young woman who'd just said goodbye to her first love - to her best friend. As of she wasn't a young woman at all, but a queen.

There was something heady about walking up to the mirror as a single person, only to find that when you stood a certain way, you were multiplied into an army.

What was that saying, grief is the price we pay for love?

No matter what you do, no matter how high you climb, you’ll never have anyone to share it with,” Nina said coldly. “You’ll be completely alone.

None of it will make you happy, since none of it will be real.

No. Daphne refused to accept that his love for her had just…faded away.

Our problem is that you throw like—” “Don’t you dare say ‘like a girl,’ ” Beatrice cut in, and he laughed.

I swear that I'll keep it safe. Everywhere I go, that part of you will come with me, and I will guard and treasure it. Always.

It’s easier to believe in things, to believe in people, when you read about them in books. They’re so much safer when they’re fictional. The real-life ones...I’m still not sure how to handle them.

Beatrice caught herself wondering if two people could fall in love this way-by loving the same thing so deeply that their excess love spilled over and drew them towards each other

Nothing in life hurt more than hurting the people you loved.

Because you're you. She was struck by the utter simplicity of it.

Outside, the storm must be raging-but here, in the pocket of warmth they had created, Beatrice felt safe. And loved.

When she was younger Beatrice had thought time moved so slowly, that a year was an eternity to wait for something. Now it felt like physics had twisted and time had accelerated, and she wasn't sure how to keep up.

It frightened Beatrice a little, that the world was built on so many small ifs that decided people's fates. No, she thought intently, that wasn't true. From now on, Beatrice would choose her own fate.