01c. 1986 ADThe stag’s enormous head turned slightly—toward the wagon, toward the small window.The Lord of the North.So the people of Terrasen will always know how to find their way home, she’d once told Ansel as they lay under a blanket of stars and traced the constellation of the stag. So they can look up at the sky, no matter where they are, and know Terrasen is forever with them.Sarah J. Maas / quote ↗
02c. 1986 ADI glanced at my mate- the male who had always presented me with a choice not as a gift, but as my own gods-given right.Sarah J. Maas / quote ↗
03c. 1986 ADRowan considered for a moment, and then said, "I have known many kings in my life, Dorian Havilliard. And it was a rare man indeed who asked for help when he needed it, who would put aside pride.Sarah J. Maas / quote ↗
04c. 1986 ADThe girl wore her scars the way some women wore their finest jewelry.Sarah J. Maas / quote ↗
05c. 1986 ADSo she steeled herself. “I have never told anyone this story. No one in the world knows it. But it's mine,” she said, blinking past the burning in her eyes, “and it's time for me to tell it.”Rowan leaned back on the rock, bracing his palms behind him.“Once upon a time,” she said to him, to the world, to herself, “in a land long since burned to ash, there lived a young princess who loved her kingdom . . . very much.”And then she told him of the princess whose heart had burned with wildfire, of the mighty kingdom in the north, of its downfall and of the sacrifice of Lady Marion.Sarah J. Maas / quote ↗
06c. 1986 ADA court that wouldn't just change the world. It would start the world over.Sarah J. Maas / quote ↗
07c. 1986 ADThis thing between them, the force of it, could devour the world. And if they picked it, picked them, it might very well cause the end of it.Sarah J. Maas / quote ↗
08c. 1986 ADNot realizing that I craved his warmth, his nearness, until he was gone.Sarah J. Maas / quote ↗
09c. 1986 ADYou could rattle the stars,' she whispered. 'You could do anything, if only you dared.Sarah J. Maas / quote ↗
10c. 1986 ADAnd he will never know what it is to look up at the night sky and wish.Sarah J. Maas / quote ↗
12c. 1986 ADThey had survived, when so many had not. And no one else could understand what it was like to bear it, unless they had lost as much.Sarah J. Maas / quote ↗
13c. 1986 ADIf I offer you the moon on a string, will you give me a kiss, too?" - Lucien VanserraSarah J. Maas / quote ↗
14c. 1986 ADI reached up to touch his mask. It was so cold, despite how flushed his skin was just beyond it. My hand shook, and my breathing became shallow as I grazed the skin of his jaw. It was smooth—and hot.He wet his lips, his breathing as uneven as my own. His fingers contracted against the plane of my lower back, and I let him tug me closer to him—until our bodies were touching, and the warmth of him seeped into me.I had to tilt my head back to see his face. His mouth was caught somewhere between a smile and a wince.“What?” I asked, and put a hand on his chest, preparing to shove myself back. But his other hand slipped under my hair, resting at the base of my neck.“I’m thinking I might kiss you,” he said quietly, intently.“Then do it.” I blushed at my own boldness.But Tamlin only gave that breathy laugh, and leaned in.His lips brushed mine—testing, soft and warm. He pulled back a little. He was still staring at me, and I stared right back as he kissed me again, harder, but nothing like the way he’d kissed my neck. He withdrew more fully this time and watched me.“That’s it?” I demanded, and he laughed and kissed me fiercely.My hands went around his neck, pulling him closer, crushing myself against him. His hands roved my back, playing in my hair, grasping my waist, as if he couldn’t touch enough of me at once.Sarah J. Maas / quote ↗
15c. 1986 ADEvery gift comes with a price.” I frowned, and he grinned. “A kiss.”“Absolutely not!” But my blood raced, and I had to clench my hands in the grass to keep from touching him. “Don’t you think it puts me at a disadvantage to not be able to see all this?”“I’m one of the High Fae—we don’t give anything without gaining something from it.”To my own surprise, I said, “Fine.”He blinked, probably expecting me to have fought a little harder. I hid my smile and sat up so that I faced him, our knees touching as we knelt in the grass.“What about your part of the bargain?”“What?”He leaned closer, his smile turning wicked. “What about my kiss?”I grabbed his fingers. “Here,” I said, and slammed my mouth against the back of his hand. “There’s your kiss.Sarah J. Maas / quote ↗
16c. 1986 ADNot forever,' he said onto my mouth. And though I knew it was a lie, I put my arms around his neck and kissed him.Sarah J. Maas / quote ↗
17c. 1986 ADWhat do you care?" I barked, and his grip tightened enough on my wrists that I knew my bones would snap with a little more pressure."What do I care?" he breathed, wrath twisting his features. Wings - those membranous, glorious wings - flared from his back, crafted from the shadows behind him. "What do I care?"But before he could go on, his head snapped to the door, then back to my face. The wings vanished as quickly as they had appeared, and then his lips were crushing into mine. His tongue pried my mouth open, forcing himself into me, into the space where I could still taste Tamlin. I pushed and trashed, but he held firm, his tongue sweeping over the roof of my mouth, against my teeth, claiming me - The door was flung wide, and Amarantha's curved figure filled its space. Tamlin - Tamlin was beside her, his eyes slightly wide, shoulders tight as Rhys's lips still crushed mine.Amarantha laughed, and a mask of stone slammed down on Tamlin's face. void of feeling, void of anything vaguely like the Tamlin I'd been tangled up with moments before.Sarah J. Maas / quote ↗
18c. 1986 ADLast night... I'm sorry if I was too forward with you." He paused. "Celaena, you're grimacing."Had she been making a face? "Er- sorry.""It did upset you, then!""What did?""The kiss!"... "Oh, it was nothing," she said, thumping her chest as she cleared her throat. "I didn't mind it. But I didn't hate it, if that's what your thinking!" She immediately regretted saying it."So, you liked it?" He grinned lazily."No! Oh, go away!" She flung herself onto her pillows, pulling the blankets over her head. She was going to die from embarrassment.Sarah J. Maas / quote ↗
19c. 1986 ADHe suddenly felt the urge to kiss her-hard- upon the mouth. But this- what he felt, it could never be real. Because once the ball was over, she would go back to being an assassin, and he would still be a prince. Dorian swallowed hard. For tonight, though...He held her closer. Everyone transformed into mere shadows on the wall.Sarah J. Maas / quote ↗
21c. 1986 ADKaltain unleashed the last of her shadowfire, tipping her face to the ceiling, toward a sky she'd never see again. She took every wall and every column. As she brought it all crashing and crumbling around them, Kaltain smiled, and at last burned herself into ash on a phantom wind.Sarah J. Maas / quote ↗
22c. 1986 ADThey had slept in the shelter of the ruins, though neither of them really got true rest.Sarah J. Maas / quote ↗
23c. 1986 ADBut the king was frowning. "I expected you a month ago."Aedion actually had the nerve to shrug. "Apologies. The Staghorns were slammed with a final winter storm. I left when I could."Every person in the hall held their breath.Sarah J. Maas / quote ↗
24c. 1986 ADFeyre," he said--softly enough that I faced him again. "Why?" He tilted his head to the side. "You dislike our kind on a good day. And after Andras . . ." Even in the darkened hallway, his usual bright eyes were shadowed. "So why?"I took a step closer to him, my blood-covered feet sticking to the rug. I glanced down the stairs to where I could still see the prone form of the faerie and the stumps of his wings."Because I wouldn't want to die alone," I said, and my voice wobbled as I looked at Tamlin again, forcing myself to meet his stare. "Because I'd want someone to hold my hand until the end, and awhile after that. That's something everyone deserves, human or faerie." I swallowed hard, my throat painfully tight. "I regret what I did to Andras," I said, the words so strangled they were no more than a whisper. "I regret that there was . . . such hate in my heart. I wish I could undo it--and . . . I'm sorry. So very sorry.Sarah J. Maas / quote ↗