01c. 1947 ADDrualt took Freya's warm hand,Her strong hand,Her sword hand,And pressed it to his lips,Pressed it to his heart.Come with me,' he said.Come with me to battle,My love. Tarry at my side.Stay with meWhen battle is done.Tarry at my side.Laugh with me,And walk with meThe long, long way.Tarry with me,My love, at my side.Gail Carson Levine / quote ↗
02c. 1947 ADStep follows step,Hope follows Courage,Set your face towards danger,Set your heart on victory.Gail Carson Levine / quote ↗
03c. 1947 ADDo you like to slide?" His voice was eager.Stair rails! Did he suspect me? I forced a sigh. "No, Majesty. I'm terrified of heights.""Oh." His polite tone had returned."I wish I could enjoy it. This fear of heights is an affliction."He nodded, a show of sympathy but not much interest. I was losing him."Especially," I added, "as I've grown taller.Gail Carson Levine / quote ↗
04c. 1947 ADHush Hattie!" I said, intoxicated with my success. "I don't want to go to my room. Everyone must know I shan't marry the prince." I ran to the door to our street, opened it, and called out into the night, "I shan't marry the prince." I turned back into the hall and ran to Char and threw my arms about his neck. "I shan't marry you." I kissed his cheek. He was safe from me.Gail Carson Levine / quote ↗
06c. 1947 ADHe put his hand on my waist, and my heart began to pound, a rougher rhythm than the music. I held my skirt. Our free hands met. His felt warm and comforting and unsettling and bewildering--all at once.Gail Carson Levine / quote ↗
07c. 1947 ADWould you favor me with a dance?" Over all the others I was his choice! I curtsied, and he took my hand. Our hands knew each other. Char looked at me, startled. "Have we met before, Lady?Gail Carson Levine / quote ↗
08c. 1947 ADDaughter, we didn't need your note - or a prince's visit - to tell us you'd done nothing wrong. We know the daughter we raised. We fear for your future, but never for your character. You take our love and our trust wherever you wander. Father.Gail Carson Levine / quote ↗
10c. 1947 ADThere's nothing wrong with reading a book you love over and over. When you do, the words get inside you, become a part of you, in a way that words in a book you've read only once can't.Gail Carson Levine / quote ↗
11c. 1947 ADNo sign of pleasure greeted the announcement. The mood in the hall was leaden.My mood was livelier. Fright is livelier than lead.Gail Carson Levine / quote ↗
12c. 1947 ADTo me, merely and pretty were words that had nothing to do with each other. Pretty went with miraculously, and merely belonged in another paragraph entirely.Gail Carson Levine / quote ↗
14c. 1947 ADSorcerers believe that an action taken for the right reasons has an unreasonable chance of success.Gail Carson Levine / quote ↗
15c. 1947 ADIn that moment I found a power beyond any I'd had before, a will and a determination I would never have need if not for Lucinda, a fortitude I hadn't been able to find for a lesser cause.Gail Carson Levine / quote ↗
16c. 1947 ADI had been able to break the curse myself. I'd had to have reason enough, love enough to do it, to find the will and the strength.Gail Carson Levine / quote ↗
17c. 1947 ADahthOOn SSyng!" I said. "That's farewell.""It sounds evil.""It is," I answered, and we parted.Gail Carson Levine / quote ↗
18c. 1947 ADI rode all day.I cried all night.The moon didn’t glow.The sun didn’t rise.A comet blazedBetween my eyes.West and South,Wind and rain.Every way isJust the same.Pray give me a boxTo hide inside.Pray give me a spadeTo dig my own grave.Gail Carson Levine / quote ↗
20c. 1947 ADBut the lost one is with you.Her tenderness strengthens you,Her gaiety uplifts you,Her honor purifies you.More than memory,The lost one is found.Gail Carson Levine / quote ↗
21c. 1947 AD... He was only a person on the outside and... his insides were ashes mixed with coins and a brain.Gail Carson Levine / quote ↗
22c. 1947 ADI'm solitary as a pulled tooth,Lonely as an unwelcome truth, Lost as a minnow out of school, A genius in a crop of fools.Gail Carson Levine / quote ↗
24c. 1947 ADShe asks why I like her.Might as well askWhy I breathe.Maybe tomorrow I won'tBreathe or like herAnymore.Maybe tomorrow the tidesWill stop.Maybe tomorrow will bringNo more rainbows.Maybe tomorrowShe will stopAsking useless questions.Gail Carson Levine / quote ↗
