Ashes And The Star Cursed King Quotes

I’d spend a lifetime at the tip of your blade, and it would have been worth it.

You have nothing but me", I said. "And yet, you'd let me go?" "I have nothing but you,' he murmured. "So I am letting you go.

Let me make you the queen that you are. Let me guard your body, your soul, your heart. Let me spend the rest of my fucking pathetic life at your mercy. If I need to die, then let me do it by your hand. Please.

There she is,

I like a little fight,” he murmured. “Besides, she’s ruined me for all others. My own fucking fault, though. I knew it from the beginning.

She looked at him like he was the sun. And he looked at her like she was the moon.

He didn’t want me to jump because he didn’t want me to find out I could catch myself.

To die, rather than killing you?” he said quietly. “Yes. That would have been worth it. Even I had to draw a line somewhere. And you’re the line, Oraya.

Humans mourn time, because it’s the only currency that really matters in a life so short.

Your soul is my soul. Your blood is my blood. Your heart is my heart.

Don’t you dare stop fighting, princess. It would break my damned heart.

Maybe the king always knew that his greatest love would be his ruination. Maybe he knew it the moment he met her. He’d know it the second time he died, too.

In a dark world, eyes naturally find the light. She becomes the brightest thing in his.

I hate you because I don’t.

Love is fucking terrifying,” he murmured. “I think that’s true no matter who you are.

There she is.

Maybe I just imagined that the entire world stopped when my wife walked into the ballroom.

I liked anger. It was tangible, and strong, and it made me feel powerful.

Oraya didn’t need to be saved. She just needed a soul beside her on the dark walk to her own potential.

The dress is an act of war. But you’ve always looked fucking fantastic in blood.

He’d raised me to look at the bars of my cage and call them trees.

I am the Nightborn King,” I said, voice low and deadly. “Do you think I’m going to beg for your respect? I don’t need your respect. Your fear will do. Bow.

Yours,” I ground out. “It’s yours.” My blood. My body. My soul. I had given her all of that a long time ago. I even had given her my life. And I’d do it all again.

My downfall and my most valuable supporter. My weakness and my strength. My worst enemy and the greatest love I had ever known.

We’ll rip apart the worlds that subjugated both of us, and from the ashes we’ll build something new.

I’m already more afraid than I ever have been. Afraid of you and what you could do to me. Afraid of the world that could kill you so easily. Afraid of myself, gifted with another fragile heart that I know I cannot keep. But, my little serpent, it is the most wonderful fear. Every minute with you is, even if I already regret all the mistakes I know I will make.

To give someone that much of yourself. To give someone the power to destroy you.

Strange, that these Marks supposedly branded us as innate enemies. And yet, they were obvious mates to each other.

I was everything I was meant to be. My father’s daughter. Victim and protégée. Greatest love and ruination.

You have nothing but me,” I said. “And yet, you’d let me go?” “I have nothing but you,” he murmured. “So I am letting you go.

Seeing, as always, more than I wished he did. Seeing, as always, me.

I hate these people. I hate this castle. I hate this fucking crown. But I don’t hate you, Oraya. Not even a little.

Don’t you dare stop, princess,” Raihn rasped, reading my face, the wince giving way to a twisted half smile. “Please. I don’t care if it fucking kills me.

The kiss was like a thunderstorm over the summer desert—a torrent that swept in all at once, obliterating the heat, so all-consuming that suddenly you remember nothing but the rain. All at once, he was everywhere.

The sheer degree of fucking obsession that grief forces upon you. It took everything I had to force my mind to think about something other than him - it had exhausted me so completely.

Loving Oraya was terrifying. It required me to see things I didn’t want to see. Face things I didn’t want to face. Allow another soul to witness parts of myself I didn’t even want to acknowledge.

Humans mourn time, because it's the only currency that really matters in a life so short.

The king knew, in this moment, that his greatest love would also be his ruination, and that both would come in the unlikely form of a young human woman.

As a young man, I used to think that bravery was the absence of fear. No. I’d learned since then that the absence of fear was only stupidity.

That he had tried. That he had failed. And that he had loved me, anyway. And I would carry all of that forever, for the rest of my life.

I wasn’t going to let you fall. But more importantly, I knew you weren’t going to let you fall.

You are so impossibly beautiful,

But that’s what happens when one person gets to shape your entire world. They can make it into whatever they want, and you’re stuck inside those walls, whether they’re real or not.

He kissed me like he was starving. Kissed me the way he had fed from me in a cave once, many months ago—desperate and deep and full of hunger, like I was the only thing tethering him to the world. And Mother, I felt that way, too, like I was grasping hold of something solid for the first time in so long. Like I had come home.

Maybe the king always knew that his greatest love would be his ruination. Maybe he knew it the moment he met her.

But I was powerless now, just as I was then. A human in a world of vampires. An Heir with no teeth. A daughter with no way to avenge her father.

The first time in weeks I’d seen something that looked like fight in her eyes. Goddess, I could’ve fucking wept for it. There she is, I thought.

You have fucking destroyed me, he had told the young woman the night before. She would destroy him. And it would be worth it.

It feels like a trap,” I whispered. “The…” “Happiness,” he finished.

Because if I let you go, I’m committing treason against my own throne. Because if I let you go, I’ll have no choice but to fight against you out there. Because if I let you go, you become my enemy in earnest. And I can’t kill you, princess. I’ve tried. I can’t.

Your father, Oraya, felt all those things, too. He was just as broken as the rest of us, and he was so determined not to acknowledge it that he flayed you with those sharp edges and then berated you for having skin instead of steel.

I’ve got to believe in love, Raihn. The world is sad enough.

He was always going to let me go.

Raihn has a lot of flaws, Oraya,” she murmured, “but he knows how to love.

You are everything,” he choked out, voice ragged. “Everything. So go, Oraya. Go.

Considering stabbing a door before I even looked for the keys. Goddess fucking help me. I was grateful Raihn wasn’t here to see this.

Maybe he loved her in a way. But he could never love her for what she really was. Loving everything in her but her humanity wasn't loving her at all.

It was all her. Deadly and stunning. Even her hatred was fucking beautiful.

Only good thing about the last time it happened was that you were the last thing I saw.

We remained there, locked together, both panting. Just like it had been in the Kejari. Like fighting a mirror.

He was offering me everything I needed to destroy him.

I could practically hear her saying it, too: There he is.

His last words were not, You have beautiful eyes. His last words were, “End it.

And there she is,” he chuckled.

I lifted my sword, the streak of Nightfire blinding against the night sky. “Let’s take our fucking kingdom back,” I snarled.

I love you,” he said, in a single, urgent breath. “I just—I need you to know that. I love you, Oraya.

You should have left the flower of your love remain forever frozen as it was," she said. "So beautiful at its peak. So much less painful." But there was no such thing as love without fear. Love without vulnerability. Love without risk. "Not as beautiful as one that lives," I whispered.

here I was, poring over every wound he gave me. And no matter how much they hurt, I never wanted them to heal, because they were his. And I missed him too much to hate him the way I wanted to. And I hated him most of all for that.

Go somewhere far away. Go to the human nations. Go learn about your magic. I’d tell you to go become something fucking incredible, Oraya, but you already are, and this place doesn’t deserve you. It never has. And I sure as fuck don’t.

I give you my blood, I give you my soul, I give you my heart, From this night until the end of nights. From daybreak until our days are broken. Your soul is my soul, Your heart is my heart, Your pain is my pain. I bind myself to you. -The Serpent And The Wings Of Night

All of it was true at once. That he had saved me. That he had crippled me. His selfishness and his selflessness. That he had tried. That he had failed. And that he had loved me, anyway. And I would carry all of that forever, for the rest of my life. And he would still be dead.

But one day, the things that are the most painful are going to be sources of strength.

Everything after that feels inevitable. In a dark world, eyes naturally find the light. She becomes the brightest thing in his.

Maybe the others don’t let you see the shards. Maybe they don’t show you the things they mourn. Doesn’t mean it’s not there. Doesn’t mean they don’t feel it.

And when I’d watched her fly tonight, alight with such joy, only one thought had rang out in my mind: I never knew something could look so beautiful flying away.

My eyes burned. I closed my hand, tight, relishing the press of the stones against my palm, as if I could still feel my mother’s touch on them if I tried hard enough.

I have nothing but you,” he murmured. “So I am letting you go.

the world didn’t deserve Oraya—but what a magnificent thing she could become.

Her face went hard and cold, and for a split second, I was so relieved to see that look. Fight. There she is.

Even I had to draw a line somewhere. And you’re the line, Oraya.

Good question, princess,” he said. “Depends on who wins.” There he is, I thought.

in this moment, that his greatest love would also be his ruination, and that both would come in the unlikely form of a young human woman.

Ix’s tits.

I was desperate to have something to love. Something to care about when I didn't give a damn about myself.

She would destroy him. And it would be worth it.

Men and their secrets," she said. "We spend a lifetime trying to unravel them, and once they're gone, we're still at their mercy.

My grief for him. My love for him. My hatred of him. My anger. My confusion.

Vincent had ruined me. He had saved me. He had loved me. He had stifled me. He had manipulated me. He had made me everything that I was. Everything that I could be.

This kiss was not like our battle from before. This was an apology, a plea, a greeting, a goodbye, a million words rolled into several endless seconds in which time died between us.

The kiss was like a thunderstorm over the summer desert—a torrent that swept in all at once, obliterating the heat, so all-consuming that suddenly you remember nothing but the rain.

I’m not abandoning her.” My words were sharper than I’d meant for them to be. “I made vows. I’m not doing that.” Your soul is my soul. Your blood is my blood. Your heart is my heart.

Knock on that door,” I breathed, “one more fucking time.” My husband smiled at me, lowering his raised fist, which had indeed been ready to knock one more fucking time. “There she is.

Committing him to memory. Making sure that every movement, every breath, every sound he made was marked onto my soul. I wanted to capture him like rainwater. I wanted to savor him like blood. I wanted him to open me and touch everything within me that I’d hidden away from the world. How could there be so much pleasure in vulnerability? How could there be so much pleasure in fear?

I glanced back at Raihn, and the pride in his face caught me off-guard. His eyes crinkled with a barely-there, knowing smirk. And Goddess damn him, I could practically hear him saying it: There she is.

So it’s decided,” he said. “We go down fighting in the name of blind fucking hope.” None of us could argue with that. At least if we were idiots, we were all idiots together. That counted for something, I supposed.

Even losing Ilana hadn’t prepared me for this. The sheer degree of fucking obsession that grief forces upon you. It took everything I had to force my mind to think about something other than him—it had exhausted me so completely.

I always meant it. The offer I made you.” There is no one I would rather have ruling this kingdom beside me than you. I saw in her face that she knew exactly what I was talking about. “I know,” she said, after a long moment, and left.

Maybe the others don’t let you see the shards. Maybe they don’t show you the things they mourn. Doesn’t mean it’s not there. Doesn’t mean they don’t feel it. And your father—” Her face went serious now, fiery-fierce. Her hand fell to mine, clutching tight. “Your father, Oraya, felt all those things, too. He was just as broken as the rest of us, and he was so determined not to acknowledge it that he flayed you with those sharp edges and then berated you for having skin instead of steel.

I dream about my blade going into your chest every fucking night, Raihn.” Too much. Don’t show him this. But it was too late. The words poured out of me, hot and scalding. “You made me kill you,” I ground out. “You made me do what you couldn’t do. For the second time in my life I—

Darkness: I had a dream, which was not all a dream. The bright sun was extinguish'd, and the stars Did wander darkling in the eternal space, Rayless, and pathless, and the icy earth Swung blind and blackening in the moonless air; Morn came and went—and came, and brought no day, And men forgot their passions in the dread Of this their desolation; and all hearts Were chill'd into a selfish prayer for light: And they did live by watchfires—and the thrones, The palaces of crowned kings—the huts, The habitations of all things which dwell, Were burnt for beacons; cities were consum'd, And men were gather'd round their blazing homes To look once more into each other's face; Happy were those who dwelt within the eye Of the volcanos, and their mountain-torch: A fearful hope was all the world contain'd; Forests were set on fire—but hour by hour They fell and faded—and the crackling trunks Extinguish'd with a crash—and all was black. The brows of men by the despairing light Wore an unearthly aspect, as by fits The flashes fell upon them; some lay down And hid their eyes and wept; and some did rest Their chins upon their clenched hands, and smil'd; And others hurried to and fro, and fed Their funeral piles with fuel, and look'd up With mad disquietude on the dull sky, The pall of a past world; and then again With curses cast them down upon the dust, And gnash'd their teeth and howl'd: the wild birds shriek'd And, terrified, did flutter on the ground, And flap their useless wings; the wildest brutes Came tame and tremulous; and vipers crawl'd And twin'd themselves among the multitude, Hissing, but stingless—they were slain for food. And War, which for a moment was no more, Did glut himself again: a meal was bought With blood, and each sate sullenly apart Gorging himself in gloom: no love was left; All earth was but one thought—and that was death Immediate and inglorious; and the pang Of famine fed upon all entrails—men Died, and their bones were tombless as their flesh; The meagre by the meagre were devour'd, Even dogs assail'd their masters, all save one, And he was faithful to a corse, and kept The birds and beasts and famish'd men at bay, Till hunger clung them, or the dropping dead Lur'd their lank jaws; himself sought out no food, But with a piteous and perpetual moan, And a quick desolate cry, licking the hand Which answer'd not with a caress—he died. The crowd was famish'd by degrees; but two Of an enormous city did survive, And they were enemies: they met beside The dying embers of an altar-place Where had been heap'd a mass of holy things For an unholy usage; they rak'd up, And shivering scrap'd with their cold skeleton hands The feeble ashes, and their feeble breath Blew for a little life, and made a flame Which was a mockery; then they lifted up Their eyes as it grew lighter, and beheld Each other's aspects—saw, and shriek'd, and died— Even of their mutual hideousness they died, Unknowing who he was upon whose brow Famine had written Fiend. The world was void, The populous and the powerful was a lump, Seasonless, herbless, treeless, manless, lifeless— A lump of death—a chaos of hard clay. The rivers, lakes and ocean all stood still, And nothing stirr'd within their silent depths; Ships sailorless lay rotting on the sea, And their masts fell down piecemeal: as they dropp'd They slept on the abyss without a surge— The waves were dead; the tides were in their grave, The moon, their mistress, had expir'd before; The winds were wither'd in the stagnant air, And the clouds perish'd; Darkness had no need Of aid from them—She was the Universe.