Rapture

Visions are possibilities. Actions are the only thing able to determine our futures.

But before you forget, while you sit stagnant in your little corner of the board, there is one piece that obeys almost no rules and has her own commands. Utter freedom is the way of the queen. She is your most powerful piece, your very best ally, the ruination of your enemy—but only if you utilize her properly, my king. Only if you are willing to do what it takes to plumb the debts of her power to aid you to victory. Just try to win without her, and you'll see you are doomed to failure.

She had seen expert methods of flirtation and temptation, not to mention last-minute flip of denial. What men liked to call a tease. What they loved to call a tease. They stomped and growled about it, but they always hung around for more.

I am smart enough to realize that people are the most trying creatures on earth and we drain energy from one another in wasteful useless ways and that would make those who need that energy from you pay a price.

Trace might have wondered why Magnus had aspired to such a high administrative position when it was clear he wanted to mold the youth of their species more than anything, except he knew his father had a driving need to control those gifts from a level where he would make the most powerful impact. It wasn't about making himself happy.

All of that savage power hidden under so much civility.

Bad enough to disrespect a handmaiden, worse to disrespect the handmaiden of the most powerful man in the temple. Whichever way it was looked at, it was a punishable offense. It didn't matter whether she had identified herself or not. Even the plainest woman should be able to walk the street without feeling threatened or accosted.

Daenaira, Magnus realized, had the fighting instinct of a berserker. For her, once battle began, it didn't stop until she no longer felt threatened.

But it wasn't even close to perfect if you can't trust it to stand up on its own merit. Not if you have to try and control it and play games to try and shape it to your will. This doesn't save it, it destroys it. And it certainly does not protect or save you.

One drop of water can cause ripples for miles!

Sometimes procrastination is an action, not inaction.

When we have no trust, the vacant space that is left becomes filled with fear.

We speak of it like it is always possible, but we never truly expect it.

If the heart did not feel, then there was no hope for the rest. Feeling was necessary to passion and caring and belief.