Quotes from One Dark Throne

Kendare Blake ·  464 pages

Rating: (13.1K votes)


“No matter how far I go, I'm still your person. We stand together now.”
― Kendare Blake, quote from One Dark Throne


“But everyone knows that the Breccia Domain is more than an empty hole in the earth. Who knows what happened to the queens who were thrown down into the dark? Into the heart of the island, where the Goddess’s eye is always open. Who knows how she kept those queens or what she turned them into”
― Kendare Blake, quote from One Dark Throne


“Outside in the yard, Arsinoe follows Jules past the chicken coops as she and Camden stretch their sore limbs in the sun. Then she darts off into the woodpile.

“What are you digging for?” Jules asks.

“Nothing.” But Arsinoe returns with a book, brushing bits of bark off the soft green cover. She holds it up and Jules frowns. It is a book of poison plants, lifted discreetly from one of the shelves in Luke’s bookshop.

“You shouldn’t be messing about with that,” Jules says. “And what if someone sees you with it?”

“Then they’ll think I’m trying to get revenge, for what was done to you.”

“That won’t work. Reading a book to out-poison the poisoners? You can’t even poison a poisoner, can you?”

“Say ‘poison’ one more time, Jules.”
― Kendare Blake, quote from One Dark Throne


“The cloth overlay of Billy’s cart clucks, and a brown chicken pokes her head out from under the covering, stepping out of the basket she was riding in.

“There is a chicken in your cart.”

“I know,” Billy snaps, and slaps his napkin across his lap.

“Why is there a chicken in your cart?”

“Because this was supposed to be chicken stew,” he says. “I’ve been hand-feeding this bird for days to be sure it was not poisoned before the fact. And now . . .” He pours Mirabella some water and drinks from her cup. The hen clucks, and Billy tosses down a chunk of bread.

“Now her name is Harriet,” he says quietly.

Mirabella laughs.”
― Kendare Blake, quote from One Dark Throne


“Tommy Stratford and Michael . . . something or other,” she says. “Are you worried I’ll like them better than I like you?”

“That’s just not possible.”

“Why? Because you’re so irresistible?”

“No. Because you don’t like anyone.”

Arsinoe snorts.

“I do like you, Junior.”

“Oh?”

“But I have more important things to think about right now.”
― Kendare Blake, quote from One Dark Throne



“Mirabella’s eyes fill with tears, and Billy quickly wipes his mouth. He scoops strawberry tart onto his fork and holds it out.

“Here,” he says. “You must try this.” As she takes the bite, he uses his thumb to discreetly wipe the tear that falls down her cheek.

“I’m sorry,” he says softly. “I suppose I haven’t even tried to consider your point of view. It was thoughtless of me.”

“It is all right,” Mirabella says. “Does she know that you love her?”

Billy raises his eyebrows.

“Why would she when I didn’t? It wasn’t like I read in books. A thunderclap. Eyes meeting. Tortured glances. With Arsinoe it was more like . . . having cold water poured down your back and learning to enjoy it.”

“And does she love you?”

“I don’t know. I think she might.” He smiles. “I hope she does.”

“I hope so too.” Another tear slides down her cheek, and Billy darts forward to discreetly hide it.

“It is all right,” she says. “They will think I am only crying because of how terrible this strawberry tart is.”

Billy sets down his fork, insulted. Then they both begin to laugh.”
― Kendare Blake, quote from One Dark Throne


“She jogs until she reaches Billy, and falls in step beside him. He glances at her, then back at the ground.

“Is this how it is, then?” she asks after several moments. “One visit to my sister and we are no longer friends?”

He stops at the crest of a hill and squints out at the sun sparkling off the ripples in Sealhead Cove.

“I wish we weren’t. When my father sent me to Rolanth, I swore that I would hate you. That I wouldn’t be a fool like Joseph and get myself stuck in between.” He smiles at her sadly. “Why couldn’t you be wretched? Don’t you have any manners? You should’ve had the courtesy to be terrible. So I could despise you.”

“I am sorry. Shall I start now? Spit in your eye and kick you?”

“That sounds like something Arsinoe would do, actually. So I would find it endearing”
― Kendare Blake, quote from One Dark Throne


“Mirabella is still upright amid everything, and Arsinoe smiles. She does not know how anyone ever expected that she or Katharine could stand against that.”
― Kendare Blake, quote from One Dark Throne


“Jules!” Arsinoe hisses. “Jules, are you down here?”

“Arsinoe!” Jules and Camden scramble up to the bars as Arsinoe runs to them. They embrace her as well as they can with hands and paws. Camden purrs and licks her face.

“Camden, blegh.” Arsinoe grins and wipes her cheek.

“I might have licked you as well, I’m so happy to see you.” Jules gasps.”
― Kendare Blake, quote from One Dark Throne


“Willa walks past Arsinoe on the way to the kitchen.

“Goose and onion pie tonight.” Willa holds up a small yellow onion and chucks Arsinoe beneath the chin with it.

“Mmm,” Arsinoe replies uncertainly. “Was that . . . one of my favorites?”

“You do not remember?”

“I don’t.” Arsinoe follows her through the sitting room, looking at the paintings and the furniture. It would not have changed much, but nothing feels familiar. “Mirabella remembers everything. If she were here, the sentimental goof would be hugging that chair.”

“Even when she was a girl, Mirabella had far too much dignity to go about hugging chairs. Unlike you.”
― Kendare Blake, quote from One Dark Throne



About the author

Kendare Blake
Born place: Seoul
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“I discovered that my obsession for having each thing in the right place, each subject at the right time, each word in the right style, was not the well-deserved reward of an ordered mind but just the opposite: a complete system of pretense invented by me to hide the disorder of my nature. I discovered that I am not disciplined out of virtue but as a reaction to my negligence, that I appear generous in order to conceal my meanness, that I pass myself off as prudent because I am evil-minded, that I am conciliatory in order not to succumb to my repressed rage, that I am punctual only to hide how little I care about other people’s time. I learned, in short, that love is not a condition of the spirit but a sign of the zodiac.”
― Gabriel García Márquez, quote from Memories of My Melancholy Whores


“It's classical mythology, Cohen," said the minstrel. "I thought everyone knew. He was chained to a rock for eternity and every day an eagle comes and pecks out his liver."
"Is that true?"
"It's mentioned in many of the classic texts."
"I'm not much of a reader," said Cohen. "Chained to a rock? For a first offence? He's still there?"
"Eternity isn't finished yet, Cohen."
"He must've had a big liver!"
"It grows again every night, according to the legend," said the minstrel.
"I wish my kidneys did," said Cohen.”
― Terry Pratchett, quote from The Last Hero


“I imagine Hunter sitting at a poker table in a Vegas casino. He's resplendent in black jeans, a black shirt, and a Stetson. His poker face is beautiful; intriguing. I feel my body heat again as I think about kissing his lips. I wonder if the women there fall all over him. I bet the escorts would pay him to take a tumble.”
― Ella James, quote from Selling Scarlett


“Is it possible to outthink yourself?”
― Blake Crouch, quote from Dark Matter


“But at some point in her passage, the trees began to change. They stretched taller, and the soft, pale bark darkened, roughened. She put her hand to a tree and touched the lichen growing dark green upon brown, and it felt like old cork, dry and crumbling. Here the sun mellowed, took on the cast of late afternoon, and the shadows seemed to fall a bit longer; the forest had sunk into a deeper silence, magnifying what sounds did arise. The sudden, quick crash of a fox bounding through the brush was as loud as the slam of a great wooden door.”
― Malinda Lo, quote from Ash


Interesting books

The People of Sparks
(45.3K)
The People of Sparks
by Jeanne DuPrau
Bleach, Volume 01
(129.8K)
Bleach, Volume 01
by Tite Kubo
The Feminine Mystique
(17.5K)
The Feminine Mystiqu...
by Betty Friedan
His Majesty's Dragon
(59.2K)
His Majesty's Dragon
by Naomi Novik
The Deal
(89.7K)
The Deal
by Elle Kennedy
Bluestar's Prophecy
(10.9K)
Bluestar's Prophecy
by Erin Hunter

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.