“I worry because I care. Gods help me, I know I shouldn't, but I do. So I will always tell you to be careful, because I will always care what happens.”
"No matter the cause, though, it—it still takes away a little piece of you each time. So I don’t think I’ll ever forget them."
"The best lies were always mixed with truth."
“Why are you crying?"
"Because," she whispered, her voice shaking, "you remind me of what the world ought to be. What the world can be.”
"You have no idea how loud and tiresome you’ve been these past few months."
“The rest of the world quieted into nothing. In that moment, after ten long years, Celaena looked at Chaol and realised she was home.”
"‘None of us can be trusted. Especially not Roland. The things I’ve heard about him are enough to turn even your stomach, I bet.’"
“But death was her curse and her gift, and death had been her good friend these long, long years.”
"‘Maybe he’s changed in the past few months—matured a little,’ Chaol said."
“Some things you hear with your ears. Others, you hear with your heart.”
“Who said anything about shame?" She gestured down to her naked body, even though it was covered by the blanket. "Honestly, I'm surprised you're not strutting about, boasting to everyone. I certainly would be if I'd tumbled me.
"Does your love for yourself know no bounds?"
"Absolutely none.”
“Then Celaena and the King of Adarlan smiled at each other, and it was the most terrifying thing Dorian had ever seen.”
“I don't think you realize who you're dealing with."
The man clicked his tongue, "If you were that good, you would be more than just Captain of the Guard."
Chaol let out a low, breathy laugh. "I wasn't talking about me."
"She's just one girl."
Though his guts were twisting at the thought of her in this place, with these people, though he was considering every possible way to get himself and Celaena out of here alive, he gave the man a grin.
"Then you're really in for a big surprise.”
“Celaena was the lost Queen of Terrasen.
Chaol sank to his knees.”
“It was like coming home or being born or suddenly finding an entire half of herself that had been missing.”
“If they wanted Adarlan's Assassin, they'd get her.
And Wyrd help them when she arrived.”
“Dance with me, Celaena," he said again, his voice rough. When her eyes met his she forgot about the cold, and the moon, and the glass palace looming above them. The secret library and the king's plans and Mort and Elena faded into nothing. She took his hand and there was only the music and Chaol.”
“To escape death, she'd become death.”
“Enough! We have enough enemies as it is! There are worse things out there to face!"
Celaena slowly turned to him, her face splattered with blood and eyes blazing bright. "No, there aren't," she said. "Because I'm here now.”
“Because she wasn't human, Chaol realized, gaping at her from where he still crouched over Fleetfoot.
No - she wasn't human at all.
Celaena was Fae.”
“There had never been any line between them, only his own stupid fear and pride. Because from the moment he'd pulled her out of that mine in Endovier and she had set those eyes upon him, still fierce despite a year in hell, he'd been walking toward this, walking to her. So Chaol brushed away her tears, lifter her chin, and kissed her.”
“Roland gave her a courtier’s smile. “And what sort of work do you do for my uncle?
”
Dorian shifted on his feet and Chaol went very still, but Celaena returned Roland’s smile and said, “I bury the king’s opponents where nobody will ever find them.”
“And because she was young, and so damn clever and amusing and wonderful, wherever she made her home, there would be some man who would fall in love with her and who would make her his wife, and that would be the worst truth of all. It had snuck up on him, this pain and terror and rage at the thought of anyone else with her. Every look, every word from her... he didn't even know when it had started.”
“In every way that counted, I failed him.”
"It took Celaena an hour to gently, carefully pack up Nehemia’s clothes and jewelry."
“You love your country," she said. "I can't let you give all that up." He caught a glimmer of pain and hope in her eyes, and before he knew what he was doing , he'd closed the distance between them, one hand on her waist and the other on her shoulder.
"I'd be the greatest fool in the world to let you go alone.”
“She won't understand. And when she goes over the edge, there will be nothing to pull her back."
"She will find her way back. She always does."
Tears formed, but the princess blinked them away. "For all our sakes, I hope you're right.”
“But he had no idea what sort of darkness lurked inside her, or what sort of monster she was willing to become in order to make things right.”
“Everyone sounded the same when they died.”
“He wouldn't let his servants change the sheets on his bed because they still smelled like her, because he went to sleep dreaming that she was still lying beside him.”
“I'm happy for you, my friend."
Celaena smiled back. "I think... I think I'm happy for me, too."
And she was. For the first time in years, she was truly happy.”
‘Shut it,’ Celaena said, and flung open the tomb door, letting Nehemia inside. ‘Save it for someone who cares.’"
‘I have worked for ten years to become famous enough to gain an invitation to this castle. Ten years, so I could come here to sing the songs of magic that you tried to wipe out.’"
Thank you," she said in between mouthfuls as Nehemia sat down again, too. "For not exploding on me.
"Elentiya, I’m honestly surprised you told me."
We’ll never be a normal boy and girl, will we?" "No," he breathed, eyes blazing. "We won’t.
"She knew the stories—legends that had given her brutal nightmares as a child."
“He'd loved her so much that she still felt the echoes of it, even now.”
"It’s the greatest gift I’ve been given in a long while."
"I can’t tell if I should be ashamed of wanting to hold you on this day, or grateful that, despite what happened before now, it somehow brought me to you."
“Let them tremble in fear at what they had awoken.”
She was a whirling cloud of death, a queen of shadows.
Sometimes you have to fight battles others cannot.
There was beauty in the idea of freedom, but it was an illusion.
You could rattle the stars...if only you dared.
Monsters are most dangerous when they're afraid.
Fear can be a powerful weapon if you know how to wield it.
Even the strongest of opponents have a weakness.
The ones who had the power had the luxury of living in ignorance.
Pain can be a driving force, but love can be even stronger.
Strength comes from the things that break us.