The Rose & the Dagger

It was because they were two parts of a whole. He did not belong to her. And she did not belong to him. It was never about belonging to someone. It was about belonging together.

From the stars, to the stars.

No. He was not here to wreak revenge. For revenge was trifling and hollow. No. He was not here to retrieve his wife. For his wife was not a thing to be retrieved. No. He was not here to negotiate a truce. For a truce suggested he wished to compromise. He was here to burn something to the ground.

I’ve missed the silence of you listening to me.” Shahrzad attempted a weak smile. “No one listens to me as you do.” His expression turned quizzical. “You don’t wait to speak,” she clarified. “You truly listen.” “Only to you,” Khalid replied gently.

That is not the way of it. Your future is not set in stone, my dearest star. A coin turns on itself a number of times before it lands.

As always. As ever. As a rose to the sun.

It does not take courage to kill. It takes courage to live.

Two stubborn lovers, protecting each other from the very same threat.

Destiny was for fools. Sharzad would not wait for her life to happen. She would make it happen.

A boy who'd thrived in the shadows. Now he had to live in the light. To live . . . fiercely. To fight for every breath.

It was never about belonging to someone. It was belonging together.

No. He was not here to retrieve his wife. For his wife was not a thing to be retrieved.

For a story was only as good as its villain.

When I was in the desert, I woke each day and carried on with my life, but it wasn’t living; it was merely existing. I want to live. You are where I live.

if you ask me, the best way to go about flying is to cut the strings tying you down

The darker the sky, the brighter the stars.

A trickle of blood slid down his arm. He felt nothing. He only saw it. Because nothing hurt like missing her. He suspected nothing ever would

Are you finally starting to breathe in a normal fashion?” Shahrzad teased. “I must confess I find your behavior rather odd, considering you said only a child would be afraid to fly.” “I wasn’t afraid.” Khalid wrapped a forearm of corded muscle around her. She slanted a disbelieving look his way. “You just lied to me.” “I wasn’t afraid,” he repeated. “I was terrified.

Some things do not have to be said. You didn’t have to tell me you were in love with Khalid Ibn al-Rashid. And I didn’t have to tell you I cried myself to sleep for weeks after you left. Love speaks for itself.

It was easy to be good and kind in times of plenty. The trying times were the moments that defined a man. And love? Love was something that did much to change a person. It brought joy as it brought suffering, and in turn brought about those moments that defined one’s character. Love gave life to the lifeless. It was the greatest of all living powers. But, as with all things, love had a dark side to it.

The power behind words lies with the person.

Beauty fades. But a pain in the ass is forever.

Sometimes," he gasped, "the family you choose...is stronger than blood.

The rose’s rarest essence lives in the thorns.

It's much easier to hate a memory. I would know.

Sharzad was rewarded with one of his uncommonly effortless smiles. The kind that changed a face of shadows into one of light".

Understood what it meant to feel at home wherever you were. To feel as though you belonged in any moment, at any place, in any time.