The Exiled Queen

But it's not enough to know right from wrong. You need the strength to do what's right, even when what you want most in the world is the wrong thing.

Nobody's going to hand you anything. You don't get what you don't go after.

And it's not just a matter of you hurting me. I will hurt you too, even if I don't want to, I'm not the girl you think I am. And you will remember this conversation , and wish that you'd listened to me.

And, like a fool, she kissed him back. Kissed him a way that would leave no doubt about the way she felt about him. Kissed him because she knew the chances were slim she'd have very many kisses like that in her lifetime. Which is a sad thing when you're only seventeen.

Just tell me you don't love me, and I'll let the matter drop." "What?" "What I said. Just say, 'Rai, I don't love you and I never will'. It's that simple." "Raisa, this is getting us nowhere." "Say it!

You couldn’t keep your mouth shut? I’m calling you Glitterhair from now on. Or Talksalot.

Whoa, Rebecca," Talia said smiling even wider, "Walking on the wild side, are we?" Raisa seemed to think the situation needed more explaining. "He - uh - I'm tutoring him." "She is," Han said solemnly. "She's very good. I'm learning a lot." Pearlie snickered. "What's she teaching you?" "Well," Han said, "we're jumping around a lot.

You touch me again, you arrogant Ardenine swine, and I swear on the blood of Hanalea the warrior, I will geld you. Do you understand?

I live in the present because the future is always chancy. When it comes to being with you, I'm willing to take the risk.

Did the destruction of one dream leave a vacuum that required filling with another? Is a broken heart more vulnerable?

Plus he was naturally lucky at cards. As Mam had always said, lucky at cards, or lucky at life. One or the other. Not both.

Han spotted a child‟s homespun dolly in the ditch, pressed into the mud. He reined in, meaning to climb down and fetch it so he could clean it up for his little sister. Then he remembered that Mari was dead and had no need of dollies anymore. Grief was like that. It gradually faded into a dull ache, until some simple sight or sound or scent hit him like a hammer blow.

Han stroked her hair, shifting his body under her. “Why? What are you afraid of? Thieves or wizards?” “Both,” she said. “Is it because I‟m not a blueblood?” He asked this matter-of-factly, as if he really wanted to know. “That‟s the least of it,” Raisa said, taking a shuddering breath. “This is just going to lead to heartbreak, and I refuse to have my heart broken again.” She looked up at him. “I thought I could play at love. I thought I had the right, same as — as any courtier or a — a streetlord.” He shook his head. “Rebecca, listen, I—” “But I‟ve found out I‟m not made that way,” she interrupted. “I can‟t play this game if my heart‟s not in it. That‟s me personally. I‟m not judging anyone else.” “I see,” he said. He tightened his arms around her, brushing his fingers along her collarbone, setting her nerves tingling. “What‟s your heart saying now?” She wanted to be honest with him, even though she‟d probably pay for it. “I‟m in trouble,” she whispered.

You didn't have to go to the fireworks with him. Or - or let him fondle you." "Fondle?" Raisa raised her eyebrows, "When did I mention fondling?

Just because you're the enemy of my enemy don't mean you're my friend, Han thought.

Han smiled, then, a bright, charming smile that lit up the room, more dangerous than any blade. All you ever needed was that smile, she thought. I'd have given in immediately.

Grief was like that. It gradually faded into a dull ache, until some simple sight or sound or scent hit him like a hammer blow.

What could she tell him? I notice everything about him, from his flawed nose to his battle scars to his eyes as blue as an upland lake at midsummer. Sometimes I see the boy he would have been had it not been for his life at Ragmarket. He wears his pain on his face in unguarded moments; at other times, I can see just how dangerous he is. No, she couldn't say any of that.

Which is a sad thing when you're only seventeen.

I go to school here, same as you,' Han said. Micah blinked at him stupidly, the drink slowing him down. 'You? Do you even know how to read and write? They can't have lowered the standards that much.' 'Well,' Han said, 'they let you in.

But adulthood slipped up on you, she thought. It was forced on you whether you liked it or not.

You don't get what you don't go after.

Is it really your intention to be a soldier, Morley?" Askell asked. "Wouldn't it make more sense for you to study the softer sciences? Healing, art, and philosophy are all important topics. That's a more typical course of study for those of your station." "My station or my gender, sir?" Rasia said. "You've said Wien House is full of thanelings and dukes. I can think of only one way in which they are different from me.

Surround yourselves with trustworthy people. If you don't, all the weaponry and tactics in the world can't save you.

He radiated a calm focus--like he knew who he was and where he was going. He was a steady mooring in a sea of change. Hr was honest and kept his word, and he was unrelentingly fair. It made people want to follow him.

Cat scowled at him. "Why would I say anything about you? You think the whole world's sniffing your butt?

You do not respond to an attempt on your life with a slap on the hand. Or a joke.

If someone grabs you in the street, hit hard and fast, because you may not get a second chance.

If she'd ever hoped to impress Amon Byrne with her newly acquired glamour and beauty, that chance was gone forever. He'd seen her in every kind of ugly.

You need the strength to do what's right, even when what you want most in the world is the wrong thing.