“
She was fire, and light, and ash, and embers. She was Aelin Fireheart, and she bowed for no one and nothing, save the crown that was hers by blood and survival and triumph.
”
”
Sarah J. Maas (Queen of Shadows (Throne of Glass, #4))
“
They joined hands.
So the world ended.
And the next one began.
”
”
Sarah J. Maas (Queen of Shadows (Throne of Glass, #4))
“
Don't blame us," said my mother. "We didn't blow up half of Court, steal a dozen cars, call out a murderer in the middle of a crowd, or get our teenage friend crowned queen."
"Actually," said Abe, "I did blow up half of Court.
”
”
Richelle Mead (Last Sacrifice (Vampire Academy, #6))
“
Celaena was the lost Queen of Terrasen.
Chaol sank to his knees.
”
”
Sarah J. Maas (Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass, #2))
“
She is my mate. And my spy,' I said too quietly. 'And she is the High Lady of the Night Court.'
'What?' Mor whsipered.
I caressed a mental finger down that bond now hidden deep, deep within us, and said, 'If they had removed her other glove, they would have seen a second tatoo on her right arm. The twin to the other. Inked last night, when we crept out, found a priestess, and I swore her in as my High Lady.' (...) 'Not consort, not wife. Feyre is High Lady of the Night Court.' My equal in every way; she would wear my crown, sit on a throne beside mine. Never sidelined, never designated to breeding and parties and child rearing. My queen.
”
”
Sarah J. Maas (A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #2))
“
You aren’t alone.” The hope in his eyes cuts deeply. “You have your crown.
”
”
Victoria Aveyard (King's Cage (Red Queen, #3))
“
once upon a time, the princess rose from the ashes her dragon lovers made of her & crowned herself the mother-fucking queen of herself. - how’s that for a happily ever after?
”
”
Amanda Lovelace (The Princess Saves Herself in this One)
“
Now I'm in a king's cage. But so is he. My chains are Silent Stone. His is the crown.
”
”
Victoria Aveyard (King's Cage (Red Queen, #3))
“
Three dark queens
Are born in a glen,
Sweet little triplets
Will never be friends
Three dark sisters
All fair to be seen,
Two to devour
And one to be Queen
”
”
Kendare Blake (Three Dark Crowns (Three Dark Crowns, #1))
“
Once upon a time, there was a boy. He lived in a village that no longer exists, in a house that no longer exists, on the edge of a field that no longer exists, where everything was discovered, and everything was possible. A stick could be a sword, a pebble could be a diamond, a tree, a castle. Once upon a time, there was a boy who lived in a house across the field, from a girl who no longer exists. They made up a thousand games. She was queen and he was king. In the autumn light her hair shone like a crown. They collected the world in small handfuls, and when the sky grew dark, they parted with leaves in their hair.
Once upon a time there was a boy who loved a girl, and her laughter was a question he wanted to spend his whole life answering.
”
”
Nicole Krauss (The History of Love)
“
Some of the most beautiful things worth having in your life come wrapped in a crown of thorns.
”
”
Shannon L. Alder
“
She was the heir of fire. She was fire, and light, and ash, and embers. She was Aelin Fireheart, and she bowed for no one and nothing, save the crown that was hers by blood and survival and triumph.
”
”
Sarah J. Maas (Queen of Shadows (Throne of Glass, #4))
“
I have named you queen.
There are taller than you, taller.
There are purer than you, purer.
There are lovelier than you, lovelier.
But you are the queen.
When you go through the streets
No one recognizes you.
No one sees your crystal crown, no one looks
At the carpet of red gold
That you tread as you pass,
The nonexistent carpet.
And when you appear
All the rivers sound
In my body, bells
Shake the sky,
And a hymn fills the world.
Only you and I,
Only you and I, my love,
Listen to it.
”
”
Pablo Neruda (Love Poems)
“
You will bow before your Queen.” Casteel eyed the Atlantian coolly. “Or you will bleed before her. It is your choice.
”
”
Jennifer L. Armentrout (The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and Ash, #3))
“
A small smile touched Rhys’s lips. “I always knew you would make a great queen.”
“I’m not queen yet.”
“You don’t need a crown to be queen, princess.
”
”
Ana Huang (Twisted Games (Twisted, #2))
“
Not consort, not wife. Feyre is High Lady of the Night Court. My equal in every way; she would wear my crown, sit on a throne beside mine. Never sidelined, never designated to breeding and parties and child rearing. My queen.
”
”
Sarah J. Maas (A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #2))
“
Wear that scarf," he said, pointing to a blue cashmere scarf hanging on a peg. "It matches your eyes."
Alec looked at it. Suddenly he was filled with hate - for the scarf, for Magnus, and most of all for himself. "Don't tell me," he said. "The scarf's a hundred years old, and it was given to you by Queen Victoria right before she died, for special services to the Crown or something."
Magnus sat up. "What's gotten into you?"
Alec stared at him. "Am I the newest thing in this apartment?"
"I think that honor goes to Chairman Meow. He's only two."
"I said newest, not youngest," Alec snapped.
”
”
Cassandra Clare (City of Lost Souls (The Mortal Instruments, #5))
“
His name was Dorian.
Dorian Havillard, and he was the Crown Prince of Adarlan.
”
”
Sarah J. Maas (Queen of Shadows (Throne of Glass, #4))
“
Not all crowns are worn where people can see.
”
”
Victoria Aveyard (War Storm (Red Queen, #4))
“
I will kneel to only one ruler, and I will se only one person crowned this say. The age of the Lanstovs is over." He sank to one knee. "Let the Nazyalensky dynasty begin. All hail the Dragon Queen.
”
”
Leigh Bardugo (Rule of Wolves (King of Scars, #2))
“
Celaena Sardothien wasn’t in league with Aelin Ashryver Galathynius.
Celaena Sardothien was Aelin Ashryver Galathynius, heir to the throne and rightful Queen of Terranes.
Celaena was Aelin Galathynius, the greatest living threat to Adarlan, the one person who could raise an army capable of standing against the king. Now, she was also the one person who knew the secret source of the king’s power—and who sought a way to destroy it.
And he had just sent her into the arms of her strongest potential allies: to the homeland of her mother, the kingdom of her cousin, and the domain of her aunt, Queen Maeve of the Fae.
Celaena was the lost Queen of Terrasen.
Chaol sank to his knees.
”
”
Sarah J. Maas (Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass, #2))
“
Bravery is a fleeting beast, isn’t it? Always there to get you into trouble, but quick to disappear once you’re where you want to be
”
”
Jennifer L. Armentrout (The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and Ash, #3))
“
Cal will never turn his back on his crown, on your father."
"I know my brother. If it comes down to it, to saving your life or saving his crown, we both know what he will choose."
"He would never choose me.
”
”
Victoria Aveyard (Red Queen (Red Queen, #1))
“
You almost have to step outside yourself and look at you as if you were someone else you really care about and really want to protect. Would you let someone take advantage of that person? Would you let someone use that person you really care about? Or would you speak up for them? If it was someone else you care about, you'd say something. I know you would. Okay, now put yourself back in that body. That person is you. Stand up and tell 'em, "Enough!
”
”
Queen Latifah (Put on Your Crown: Life-Changing Moments on the Path to Queendom)
“
Vivi blows a noisemaker. “Here,” she says, passing out paper crowns for us to wear.
“This is ridiculous,” I complain, but put mine on.
Cardan looks at his reflection in the door of the microwave and adjusts his crown so it’s at an angle.
I roll my eyes, and he gives me a quick grin.
”
”
Holly Black (The Queen of Nothing (The Folk of the Air, #3))
“
I was a queen, and you took away my crown; a wife, and you killed my husband; a mother, and you deprived me of my children. My blood alone remains: take it, but do not make me suffer long.
”
”
Marie Antoinette
“
He loved the crown before he loved me, whether he knows it or not
”
”
Victoria Aveyard (War Storm (Red Queen, #4))
“
A true queen’s power isn’t in her crown, my little love. It’s here.” Her mother placed a hand over her heart.
”
”
Stephanie Garber (Finale (Caraval, #3))
“
He smiled. “You are always just Eadlyn. And you are always the queen. You are everything to everyone. And infinitely more to me.” - Erik
”
”
Kiera Cass (The Crown (The Selection, #5))
“
We can bomb and burn every inch of this country down, but that will never do the damage you two can do. A Silver prince turning against his crown, a Red girl with abilities. What will people say, when they see you standing with us?
”
”
Victoria Aveyard (Red Queen (Red Queen, #1))
“
There was a poem scribbled at the top of the Ashryver family tree, as though some student had dashed it down as a reminder while studying.
Ashryver Eyes
The fairest eyes, from legends old
Of brightest blue, ringed with gold
Bright blue eyes, ringed with gold. A strangled cry came out of him. How many times had he looked into those eyes? How many times had he seen her avert her gaze, that one bit proof she couldn't hide, from the king?
Celaena Sardothien wasn't in league with Aelin Ashryver Galathynius.
Celaena Sardothien was Aelin Ashryver Galathynius, heir to the throne and righful Queen of Terrasen.
”
”
Sarah J. Maas (Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass, #2))
“
No one really wishes to be a queen.
”
”
Kendare Blake (Three Dark Crowns (Three Dark Crowns, #1))
“
Oh, I think not,” Varys said, swirling the wine in his cup. “Power is a curious thing, my lord. Perchance you have considered the riddle I posed you that day in the inn?”
“It has crossed my mind a time or two,” Tyrion admitted. “The king, the priest, the rich man—who lives and who dies? Who will the swordsman obey? It’s a riddle without an answer, or rather, too many answers. All depends on the man with the sword.”
“And yet he is no one,” Varys said. “He has neither crown nor gold nor favor of the gods, only a piece of pointed steel.”
“That piece of steel is the power of life and death.”
“Just so… yet if it is the swordsmen who rule us in truth, why do we pretend our kings hold the power? Why should a strong man with a sword ever obey a child king like Joffrey, or a wine-sodden oaf like his father?”
“Because these child kings and drunken oafs can call other strong men, with other swords.”
“Then these other swordsmen have the true power. Or do they?” Varys smiled. “Some say knowledge is power. Some tell us that all power comes from the gods. Others say it derives from law. Yet that day on the steps of Baelor’s Sept, our godly High Septon and the lawful Queen Regent and your ever-so-knowledgeable servant were as powerless as any cobbler or cooper in the crowd. Who truly killed Eddard Stark, do you think? Joffrey, who gave the command? Ser Ilyn Payne, who swung the sword? Or… another?”
Tyrion cocked his head sideways. “Did you mean to answer your damned riddle, or only to make my head ache worse?”
Varys smiled. “Here, then. Power resides where men believe it resides. No more and no less.”
“So power is a mummer’s trick?”
“A shadow on the wall,” Varys murmured, “yet shadows can kill. And ofttimes a very small man can cast a very large shadow.”
Tyrion smiled. “Lord Varys, I am growing strangely fond of you. I may kill you yet, but I think I’d feel sad about it.”
“I will take that as high praise.
”
”
George R.R. Martin (A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire, #2))
“
It's like chess, you know. The Queen saves the King.
”
”
Terry Pratchett (The Shepherd's Crown (Discworld, #41; Tiffany Aching, #5))
“
There is nothing so terrible as a story untold
”
”
Victoria Aveyard (Cruel Crown (Red Queen, #0.1-0.2))
“
And you're late."
"I prefer chronologically challenged.
”
”
Victoria Aveyard (Cruel Crown (Red Queen, #0.1-0.2))
“
Existence is the gift. Life is a choice.
”
”
Roshani Chokshi (A Crown of Wishes (The Star-Touched Queen, #2))
“
What was magic anyway, but the world beheld by someone who chose to see it differently?
”
”
Roshani Chokshi (A Crown of Wishes (The Star-Touched Queen, #2))
“
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.
”
”
Carissa Broadbent (The Ashes & the Star-Cursed King (Crowns of Nyaxia, #2))
“
A king is not his crown.
”
”
Holly Black (The Queen of Nothing (The Folk of the Air, #3))
“
You forged this crown yourself - now wear it. Or don't.
”
”
Victoria Aveyard (War Storm (Red Queen, #4))
“
I never needed this race, or a hashtag, or the king to be a queen. I was born royalty. All I had to do was pick up my crown.
”
”
Leah Johnson (You Should See Me in a Crown)
“
A story had no owner ship. A story could break its bones, grow wings, soar out of reach and dive out of sight in the time it took just to draw breath. It meant we weren’t walking a cut path. We carved it into existence with
every step.
”
”
Roshani Chokshi (A Crown of Wishes (The Star-Touched Queen, #2))
“
You are a Queen, so even when they push you, don't take the crown off.
”
”
Alexandra Elle (Words from a Wanderer)
“
The Crown Prince tipped his head back to the sky and roared, and it was the battle cry of a god. Then the glass castle shattered.
”
”
Sarah J. Maas (Queen of Shadows (Throne of Glass, #4))
“
These people will try to manipulate you, try to bring you down but remember baby girl you are a queen, own your crown.
”
”
Nikki Rowe
“
In that moment, he looked like mischief and midnight,
like a temptation that always slipped away too fast and left you at once relieved and disappointed.
”
”
Roshani Chokshi (A Crown of Wishes (The Star-Touched Queen, #2))
“
Love is like Death without the guarantee of its arrival. Love may not come for you, but when it does it will be just as swift and ruthless as Death and just as blind to your protestations. And just as Death will end one life and leave you with another, so will Love.
”
”
Roshani Chokshi (A Crown of Wishes (The Star-Touched Queen, #2))
“
The crown is in the heart, and the heart do not change
”
”
Victoria Aveyard (King's Cage (Red Queen, #3))
“
Only a king-consort is fool enough to love a queen, he says quietly.
”
”
Kendare Blake (Three Dark Crowns (Three Dark Crowns, #1))
“
There is no greater pain or punishment then memory.
”
”
Victoria Aveyard (Cruel Crown (Red Queen, #0.1-0.2))
“
A story. This was the key to immortality. The things that made kings quiver and deities distrustful: Nothing but a tale.
”
”
Roshani Chokshi (A Crown of Wishes (The Star-Touched Queen, #2))
“
I guess I am the Queen of Flesh and Fire.”
Casteel nodded as he stalked toward me, his eyes a heated amber. “I know you’re the Queen of my heart.”
Blinking, I lowered my hands as he stopped in front of me. “Did you seriously just say that?”
One dimple appeared as he clasped the back of my head and lowered his head to mine. “I sure as fuck did.”
“That was so…cheesy,” I said.
“I know.” Casteel kissed me.
”
”
Jennifer L. Armentrout (The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and Ash, #3))
“
Guilt accretes. It builds and builds, whittling stairways and spires in the heart until a person can carry a city of hopelessness inside them.
My guilt was building a universe.
”
”
Roshani Chokshi (A Crown of Wishes (The Star-Touched Queen, #2))
“
I donned my armor, lining my eyes with kohl until they were dark as death and patting crushed rose petals on my lips until they were scarlet as blood.
”
”
Roshani Chokshi (A Crown of Wishes (The Star-Touched Queen, #2))
“
Mare,” he whispers. “Choose me.”
Choose a crown. Choose another king’s cage. Choose a betrayal to everything you’ve bled for.
I find my thread of steel too. Thin but unbreakable.
“I am in love with you, and I want you more than anything else in the world.” His words sound hollow coming from me. “Anything else in this world.”
Slowly, my eyelids flutter open. He finds the spine to match my gaze.
“Think what we could do together,” he murmurs, trying to pull me closer. My feet hold firm. “You know what you are to me. Without you, I have no one. I am alone. I have nothing left. Don’t leave me alone.”
My breathing turns ragged.
I kiss him for what could be, what might be, what will be—the last time. His lips feel strangely cold as we both turn to ice.
“You aren’t alone.” The hope in his eyes cuts deeply. “You have your crown.
”
”
Victoria Aveyard (King's Cage (Red Queen, #3))
“
I denied death for you. And I'd die for you again. Kill for you. I'd tear the stars down from the heavens to fashion you a crown. You are my heart. My Queen. I'd do anything and everything you ask me, Mia.
”
”
Jay Kristoff (Darkdawn (The Nevernight Chronicle, #3))
“
News flash, lady. There are no queens anymore,” Shane said. He loaded shells in a shotgun and snapped it shut, then searched for a place to strap it on that didn’t interfere with the flamethrower. “No queens, no kings, no emperors. Not in America. Only CEOs. Same thing, but not so many crowns.
”
”
Rachel Caine (Black Dawn (The Morganville Vampires, #12))
“
A King and Queen cannot support a crown with eyes looking down. Their universe expands as far as you can see.
”
”
T.F. Hodge (From Within I Rise: Spiritual Triumph over Death and Conscious Encounters With the Divine Presence)
“
Find the one who glows, with blood on the lips and fangs in the heart.
”
”
Roshani Chokshi (A Crown of Wishes (The Star-Touched Queen, #2))
“
Cal and Maven are deadly creatures, soldiers. But their battle isn't just on the lines. It's here, in a palace, on the broadcasts, in the heart of every person they rule. They will rule, not just by right of a crown, but by might. Strength and power. It's all the Silvers respect, and it's all it takes to keep the rest of us slaves.
”
”
Victoria Aveyard (Red Queen (Red Queen, #1))
“
He turned to me, mischief glinting in his eyes. “How
do they celebrate good fortune in Bharata? In Ujijain, we kiss.”
“Look elsewhere.”
“Are you sure? You spend an awful amount of time looking at my
lips.”
“That’s only because I’m horrified at the sheer idiocy of the words
leaping out of them.
”
”
Roshani Chokshi (A Crown of Wishes (The Star-Touched Queen, #2))
“
In her mind, every last Queen lies at the bottom of the sea, drowned by the Goddess the moment she was done with them.
”
”
Kendare Blake (Three Dark Crowns (Three Dark Crowns, #1))
“
Once upon a time there was a boy who lived in a house across the field from a girl who no longer exists. They made up a thousand games. She was Queen and he was King. In the autumn light, her hair shone like a crown. They collected the world in small handfuls. When the sky grew dark they parted with leaves in their hair.
”
”
Nicole Krauss
“
She had never contemplated what it would be like--to yield control. And not have it be a weakness, but a freedom.
”
”
Sarah J. Maas (Empire of Storms (Throne of Glass, #5))
“
True war isn’t philosophical.”
“All war is philosophical. That’s why we call it war. Strip it of its paint and it’s nothing more than murder.
”
”
Roshani Chokshi (A Crown of Wishes (The Star-Touched Queen, #2))
“
To the Looking-Glass world it was Alice that said 'I've a sceptre in hand, I've a crown on my head. Let the Looking-Glass creatures, whatever they be, Come and dine with the Red Queen, the White Queen, and me.
”
”
Lewis Carroll (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland / Through the Looking-Glass)
“
What about you? Full name?”
I sighed. “There was some debate over middle names, so it’s Eadlyn Helena Margarete Schreave.”
“That’s a mouthful,” he teased.
“It’s pretentious, too. My name literally means ‘princess shining pearl.’”
He tried to hide his smile. “Your parents named you Princess?”
“Yes. Yes, I am Queen Princess Schreave, thank you.”
“I shouldn’t laugh.”
“And yet you do.
”
”
Kiera Cass (The Crown (The Selection, #5))
“
A strange prince, an even stranger night, she wrote later. I don't know if I ever want to see him again. But he seemed lonely too. Should we not be lonely together?
”
”
Victoria Aveyard (Cruel Crown (Red Queen, #0.1-0.2))
“
For Hanalea the Warrior!
”
”
Cinda Williams Chima (The Crimson Crown (Seven Realms, #4))
“
Viserys sold my mother's crown, and men called him a beggar. I shall keep this one, so men will call me a queen. (Daenerys)
”
”
George R.R. Martin (A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire, #2))
“
But I'll have to ask you to wait a long time, Anne," said Gilbert sadly. "It will be three years before I'll finish my medical course. And even then there will be no diamond sunbursts and marble halls."
Anne laughed.
"I don't want sunbursts and marble halls. I just want YOU. You see I'm quite as shameless as Phil about it. Sunbursts and marble halls may be all very well, but there is more `scope for imagination' without them. And as for the waiting, that doesn't matter. We'll just be happy, waiting and working for each other -- and dreaming. Oh, dreams will be very sweet now."
Gilbert drew her close to him and kissed her. Then they walked home together in the dusk, crowned king and queen in the bridal realm of love, along winding paths fringed with the sweetest flowers that ever bloomed, and over haunted meadows where winds of hope and memory blew.
”
”
L.M. Montgomery (Anne of the Island)
“
I didn't know I had it in me. There's more to all of us than we realize. Life is so much bigger, grander, higher, and wider than we allow ourselves to think. We're capable of so much more than we allow ourselves to believe.
”
”
Queen Latifah (Put on Your Crown: Life-Changing Moments on the Path to Queendom)
“
Not consort, not wife. Feyre is High Lady of the Night Court.” My equal in every way; she would wear my crown, sit on a throne beside mine. Never sidelined, never designated to breeding and parties and child-rearing. My queen.
”
”
Sarah J. Maas
“
Make sure she knows that I am the Chosen, the One who is Blessed, and I carry the blood of the King of Gods in me. I am the Liessa to the wolven, the second daughter, the true heir, owed the crowns of Atlantia and Solis. I am the Queen of Flesh and Fire, and the gods’ guards ride with me. Tell the Blood Queen to prepare for war.
”
”
Jennifer L. Armentrout (The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and Ash, #3))
“
At the end of the day, I can't force any of you to treat people the way you should. But it should be on your conscience that whatever law I pass won't do much unless each of you takes it upon yourself to show kindness to your fellow citizens.
”
”
Kiera Cass (The Crown (The Selection, #5))
“
What do I call you? ” he asked, turning to me. “The ‘Jewel
of Bharata’ just seems too modest, don’t you think? ”
“Call me Gauri.”
“How intimate.”
I glared. “Enjoy it, because that’s as intimate as this will ever get, Fox Prince.
”
”
Roshani Chokshi (A Crown of Wishes (The Star-Touched Queen, #2))
“
Manon didn’t move as Glennis lifted the crown and set it again on Manon’s head. Then the ancient witch knelt in the snow. “What was stolen has been restored; what was lost has come home again. I hail thee, Manon Crochan, Queen of Witches.” Manon stood fast against the tremor that threatened to buckle her legs. Stood fast as the other Crochans, Bronwen with them, dropped to a knee. Dorian, standing amongst them, smiled, brighter and freer than she’d ever seen. And then the Thirteen knelt, two fingers going to their brows as they bowed their heads, fierce pride lighting their faces. “Queen of Witches,” Crochan and Blackbeak declared as one voice. As one people.
”
”
Sarah J. Maas (Kingdom of Ash (Throne of Glass, #7))
“
It felt silly to say that he couldn’t bear to lose her. He never had her. She was not a thing to be possessed. But her entrance in his life had conjured light. And losing the light of her would plunge him into a darkness he’d never find his way out of.
”
”
Roshani Chokshi (A Crown of Wishes (The Star-Touched Queen, #2))
“
They’ve kept the truth
about Persephone a secret,
burying it deep below
Hercules’s murdered wife
and all of Zeus’s affairs.
It’s dangerous, you see,
a spark threatening to
ignite a long dead flame.
Power.
She loved her power,
the Queen of the Dead,
to forever reign
in the fires of hell.
She wore her crown
like a beacon;
a beautiful queen,
plotting against her king.
They never wanted you
to know the hunger of Persephone,
how she starved for something
other than pomegranates.
Control.
The primal thirst
that burns all women’s throats,
denied by eons of men.
Listen closely to the voice from hell, sweetheart.
“You are a queen;
don’t wait for a king.
”
”
E.P. .
“
Cinder flexed her tongue, testing it, and raised her voice."I am princess Selene."
Levana leaned forward. "Your are an impostor!"
"And I am ready to claim what's mine. People of Artemisia, this is your chance. Renounce Levana as your queen and swear fealty to me, or I swear that when I wear that crown, very person in this room will be punished for their betrayal.
”
”
Marissa Meyer (Winter (The Lunar Chronicles, #4))
“
Surviving isn’t just about cutting out your heart and burning every feeling into ash. Sometimes it means taking what ever is thrown at you, beautiful or grotesque, poisonous or blissful, and carving out your life with the pieces you’re given.
”
”
Roshani Chokshi (A Crown of Wishes (The Star-Touched Queen, #2))
“
You think too much.'
'I suppose I do; but I can’t help it, my mind is so terribly active. When I give myself, I give myself. I pay the penalty in my headaches, my famous headaches--a perfect circlet of pain! But I carry it as a queen carries her crown.
”
”
Henry James (Washington Square)
“
Queens do not remember these things,"
"Saying so does not make it true."
"You will need it to be true, for it is too cruel otherwise, to force a Queen to kill what she loves. Her own sisters. And for her to see that which she loves come at her door like wolves, seeking her head.
”
”
Kendare Blake (Three Dark Crowns (Three Dark Crowns, #1))
“
People always think killing requires a force: a cup of poison tipped into a mouth, a knife parting flesh from bone, a fist brought down repeatedly.
Wrong.
Here’s how you kill: You stay silent, you make bargains that peel the layers off your soul one by one, you build a scaffolding of flimsy excuses and live your life on them. I may have killed to save, but I killed all the same.
”
”
Roshani Chokshi (A Crown of Wishes (The Star-Touched Queen, #2))
“
Maven is a talented liar, and I don't trust a single word he speaks. Even if he was telling the truth. Even if he is a product of his mother's meddling, a thorned flower forced to grow a certain way. That doesn't change things. I can't forget everything he's done to me and so many others. When I first met him, I was seduced by his pain. He was the boy in shadow, a forgotten son. I saw myself in him. Second always to Gisa, the bright star in my parents' world. I know now that was by design. He caught me back then, ensnaring me in a prince's trap. Now I'm in a king's cage. But so is he. My chains are Silent Stone. His is the crown.
”
”
Victoria Aveyard (King's Cage (Red Queen, #3))
“
Six Wisemen came to Jhaampe-town
Climbed a hill, and never came down
Found their flesh and lost their skins
Flew away on stony wings.
Five Wisemen came to Jhaampe-town
Walked a road not up nor down
Were torn to many and turned to one,
In the end, left a task half-done
Four Wisemen came to Jhaampe-town
They spoke in words without a sound
They begged their Queen to let them go
And what became of them, no one can know.
Three Wisemen came to Jhaampe-town
They’d helped a king to keep his crown.
But when they tried to climb the hill
Down they came in a terrible spill.
Two Wisemen came to Jhaampe-town
Gentle women there they found.
Forgot their quest and lived in love
Perhaps were wiser than ones above.
One Wiseman came to Jhaampe-town.
He set aside both Queen and Crown
Did his task and fell asleep
Gave his bones to the stones to keep.
No wise men go to Jhaampe-town,
To climb the hill and never come down.
‘Tis wiser far and much more brave
To stay at home and face the grave.
”
”
Robin Hobb (Assassin's Quest (Farseer Trilogy, #3))
“
Aelin willed the blood in her veins into black fire. Aedion - her focus was on Aedion, not on the tyrant seated at the front of the room, the man who had murdered her family, murdered Marion, murdered her people. If these were her last moments, then at least she would go down fighting, to the sound of exquisite music.
It was time.
One breath - another.
She was the heir of fire.
She was fire, and light, and ash, and embers. She was Aelin Fireheart, and she bowed to no one and nothing, save the crown that was hers by blood and survival and triumph.
”
”
Sarah J. Maas (Queen of Shadows (Throne of Glass, #4))
“
That night, the Raka conspirators had plenty of news to report, particularly Ochobu. Aly had not known that the mages of the Chain had been laboring to eliminate any mages who had worked magic on the Crown’s behalf. So far they had killed seven of the most powerful.
Chelaol would call this count of the dead another ‘good start,’ Aly thought grimly. This crude business of counting up lives taken struck her as a bad idea. It took the horror from death. When Ochobu named four mages on Lombyn who had had been killed in the streets of their towns, it had been about numbers, not lives.
Maybe this is how you become a Rittevon, she thought. You get used to the dead being described as numbers, not fathers or daughters or grandparents.
She turned to Dove when Ochobu finished, 'don’t ever be like this,' she urged. 'don’t think that it doesn’t matter if you only hear of murder as a number. If you keep it at a distance.
”
”
Tamora Pierce (Trickster's Queen (Daughter of the Lioness, #2))
“
I hope Maven will see what we are, what we can do, and know he cannot win. Even he is not a fool. Even he knows when he is beaten. At least, I hope he does. Because as far as I can tell, Maven has never been defeated. Not when it really counts. Cal won their father, his soldiers, but Maven won the crown. Maven won every battle that truly mattered. And given time... he would’ve won me too.
”
”
Victoria Aveyard (Glass Sword (Red Queen, #2))
“
I am a soldier, I've been a soldier since I was a child.
Would you have a girl who has spent her life down in the trenches of battle wear a crown? Would you have a soldier queen?
I am a Squaller, a Grisha. Some of our enemies will call me a witch. And some of our own people will agree.
Will you have a Grisha queen?
My father's name was Suhm Nabri, and I am his only daughter. Will you have a Suli queen?
”
”
Leigh Bardugo (Rule of Wolves (King of Scars, #2))
“
Sir, people never wanted me to make it to squire. They won't like it any better if I become a knight. I doubt I'll ever get to command a force larger than, well, just me.'
Raoul shook his head. 'You're wrong.' As she started to protest, he raised a hand. 'Hear me out. I have some idea of what you've had to bear to get this far, and it won't get easier. But there are larger issues than your fitness for knighthood, issues that involve lives and livelihoods. Attend,' he said, so much like Yayin, one of her Mithran teachers, that Kel had to smile.
'At our level, there are four kids of warrior,' he told Kel. He raised a fist and held up one large finger. 'Heroes, like Alanna the Lioness. Warriors who find dark places and fight in them alone. This is wonderful, but we live in the real world. There aren't many places without any hope or light.'
He raised a second finger. 'We have knights- plain, everyday knights, like your brothers. They patrol their borders and protect their tenants, or they go into troubled areas at the king's command and sort them out. They fight in battles, usually against other knights. A hero will work like an everyday knight for a time- it's expected. And most knights must be clever enough to manage alone.'
Kel nodded.
'We have soldiers,' Raoul continued, raising a third finger. 'Those warriors, including knights, who can manage so long as they're told what to do. These are more common, thank Mithros, and you'll find them in charge of companies in the army, under the eye of a general. Without people who can take orders, we'd be in real trouble.
'Commanders.' He raised his little finger. 'Good ones, people with a knack for it, like, say, the queen, or Buri, or young Dom, they're as rare as heroes. Commanders have an eye not just for what they do, but for what those around them do. Commanders size up people's strengths and weaknesses. They know where someone will shine and where they will collapse. Other warriors will obey a true commander because they can tell that the commander knows what he- or she- is doing.' Raoul picked up a quill and toyed with it. 'You've shown flashes of being a commander. I've seen it. So has Qasim, your friend Neal, even Wyldon, though it would be like pulling teeth to get him to admit it. My job is to see if you will do more than flash, with the right training. The realm needs commanders. Tortall is big. We have too many still-untamed pockets, too curse many hideyholes for rogues, and plenty of hungry enemies to nibble at our borders and our seafaring trade. If you have what it takes, the Crown will use you. We're too desperate for good commanders to let one slip away, even a female one. Now, finish that'- he pointed to the slate- 'and you can stop for tonight.
”
”
Tamora Pierce (Squire (Protector of the Small, #3))
“
Once upon a time, there was a boy. He lived in a village that no longer exists, on the edge of a field that no longer exists, where everything was discovered and everything was possible. A stick could be a sword. A pebble could be a diamond. A tree was a castle.
Once upon a time, there was a boy who lived in a house across the field from a girl who no longer exists. They made up a thousand games. She was the Queen and he was the King. In the autumn light, her hair shone like a crown. They collected the world in small handfuls. When the sky grew dark, they parted with leaves in their hair.
Once upon a time there was a boy who loved a girl, and her laughter was a question he wanted to spend his whole life answering. When they were ten he asked her to marry him. When they were eleven he kissed her for the first time. When they were thirteen they got into a fight and for three weeks they didn't talk. When they were fifteen she showed him the scar on her left breast. Their love was a secret they told no one. He promised her he would never love another girl as long as he lived. "What if I die?" she asked. "Even then," he said. For her sixteenth birthday, he gave her an English dictionary and together they learned the words. "What's this?" he'd ask, tracing his index finger around her ankle and she'd look it up. "And this?" he'd ask, kissing her elbow. "Elbow! What kind of word is that?" and then he'd lick it, making her giggle. "What about this," he asked, touching the soft skin behind her ear. "I don't know," she said, turning off the flashlight and rolling over, with a sigh, onto her back. When they were seventeen they made love for the first time, on a bed of straw in a shed. Later-when things happened that they could never have imagined-she wrote him a letter that said: When will you learn that there isn't a word for everything?
”
”
Nicole Krauss (The History of Love)
“
Pitiful and pitied by no one, why have I come to the ignominy of this detestable old age, who was ruler of two kingdoms, mother of two kings? My guts are torn from me, my family is carried off and removed from me. The young king [crown prince Henry, †1183] and the count of Britanny [prince Geoffrey, †1186] sleep in dust, and their most unhappy mother is compelled to be irremediably tormented by the memory of the dead. Two sons remain to my solace, who today survive to punish me, miserable and condemned. King Richard [the Lionheart] is held in chains [in captivity with Emperor Henry VI of Germany]. His brother, John, depletes his kingdom with iron [the sword] and lays it waste with fire. In all things the Lord has turned cruel to me and attacked me with the harshness of his hand. Truly his wrath battles against me: my sons fight amongst themselves, if it is a fight where where one is restrained in chains, the other, adding sorrow to sorrow, undertakes to usurp the kingdom of the exile by cruel tyranny. Good Jesus, who will grant that you protect me in hell and hide me until your fury passes, until the arrows which are in me cease, by which my whole spirit is sucked out?"
[Third letter to Pope Celestine (1193)]
”
”
Eleanor of Aquitaine
“
Nawat grinned. “I was helping to steal soldiers who couldn't keep up.”
“What do you do with them?” she asked, curious. “I haven't heard of bodies being found.”
“Nor will you,” Nawat informed her, sitting on a corner of the worktable. “They were still alive when we gave them to my warriors at the edge of the jungle.”
He picked up Aly's hand and laced his fingers with hers. “My warriors will be able to say they last saw the missing soldiers alive, when the troops went on a visit to the jungle.”
Aly walked her free fingers over their entwined hands. “But why would Crown soldiers visit the jungle?”
“They didn't think they would at first,” Nawat admitted. “So my warriors show them the beauties of the deep jungle. They take away all the things the soldiers have of the civilized world, such as clothes and weapons and armor, so the soldiers will appreciate the jungle with their entire bodies. But my warriors have seen jungle before, so they get bored and leave. The soldiers stay longer.”
“Like the tax collectors,” Aly whispered, awed by the beauty of what he described. “Take away all they have and leave them to survive the jungle. If you're questioned under truthspell, you can say they were alive when you left them. And the only way they could survive naked out there . . .”
Nawat was shaking his head. Aly nodded. “I take it you don't leave them near any trails.”
“They are there to appreciate the jungle that has been untouched by humans,” Nawat told her, a teacher to a student who did not quite understand.
Aly sighed. “I am limp with envy,” she told him. “Simply limp.
”
”
Tamora Pierce (Trickster's Queen (Daughter of the Lioness, #2))
“
You, Doctor Martin, walk
from breakfast to madness. Late August,
I speed through the antiseptic tunnel
where the moving dead still talk
of pushing their bones against the thrust
of cure. And I am queen of this summer hotel
or the laughing bee on a stalk
of death. We stand in broken
lines and wait while they unlock
the doors and count us at the frozen gates
of dinner. The shibboleth is spoken
and we move to gravy in our smock
of smiles. We chew in rows, our plates
scratch and whine like chalk
in school. There are no knives
for cutting your throat. I make
moccasins all morning. At first my hands
kept empty, unraveled for the lives
they used to work. Now I learn to take
them back, each angry finger that demands
I mend what another will break
tomorrow. Of course, I love you;
you lean above the plastic sky,
god of our block, prince of all the foxes.
The breaking crowns are new
that Jack wore. Your third eye
moves among us and lights the separate boxes
where we sleep or cry.
What large children we are
here. All over I grow most tall
in the best ward. Your business is people,
you call at the madhouse, an oracular
eye in our nest. Out in the hall
the intercom pages you. You twist in the pull
of the foxy children who fall
like floods of life in frost.
And we are magic talking to itself,
noisy and alone. I am queen of all my sins
forgotten. Am I still lost?
Once I was beautiful. Now I am myself,
counting this row and that row of moccasins
waiting on the silent shelf.
”
”
Anne Sexton (To Bedlam and Part Way Back)
“
At least she speaks well,” his father said, sipping from his wine. Chaol clenched his free hand so hard his glove groaned. “Better than that other one—the swaggering assassin.” Yrene knew. All of it. She knew every scrap of history, knew whose note she carried in her locket. But it didn’t ease the blow, not as his father added, “Who, it turned out, is Queen of Terrasen.” A mirthless laugh. “What a prize you might have had then, my son, if you’d managed to keep her.” “Yrene is the finest healer of her generation,” Chaol said with deadly quiet. “Her worth is greater than any crown.” And in this war, it might very well be. “You don’t need to bother proving my value to him,” Yrene said, her icy eyes pinned on his father. “I know precisely how talented I am. I don’t require his blessing.
”
”
Sarah J. Maas (Kingdom of Ash (Throne of Glass, #7))
“
Citizens of Luna, I ask that you stop what you’re doing to listen to this message. My name is Selene Blackburn. I am the daughter of the late Queen Channary, niece to Princess Levana, and the rightful heir to Luna’s throne. You were told that I died thirteen years ago in a nursery fire, but the truth is that my aunt, Levana, did try to kill me, but I was rescued and taken to Earth. There, I have been raised and protected in preparation for the time when I would return to Luna and reclaim my birthright.
In my absence, Levana has enslaved you. She takes your sons and turns them into monsters. She takes your shell infants and slaughters them. She lets you go hungry, while the people in Artemisia gorge themselves on rich foods and delicacies. But Levana’s rule is coming to an end. I have returned and I am here to take back what’s mine.
Soon, Levana is going to marry Emperor Kaito of Earth and be crowned the empress of the Eastern Commonwealth, an honor that could not be given to anyone less deserving. I refuse to allow Levana to extend her tyranny. I will not stand aside while my aunt enslaves and abuses my people here on Luna, and wages a war across Earth. Which is why, before an Earthen crown can be placed on Levana’s head, I will bring an army to the gates of Artemisia.
I ask that you, citizens of Luna, be that army. You have the power to fight against Levana and the people that oppress you. Beginning now, tonight, I urge you to join me in rebelling against this regime. No longer will we obey her curfews or forgo our rights to meet and talk and be heard. No longer will we give up our children to become her disposable guards and soldiers. No longer will we slave away growing food and raising wildlife, only to see it shipped off to Artemisia while our children starve around us. No longer will we build weapons for Levana’s war. Instead, we will take them for ourselves, for our war.
Become my army. Stand up and reclaim your homes from the guards who abuse and terrorize you. Send a message to Levana that you will no longer be controlled by fear and manipulation. And upon the commencement of the royal coronation, I ask that all able-bodied citizens join me in a march against Artemisia and the queen’s palace. Together we will guarantee a better future for Luna. A future without oppression. A future in which any Lunar, no matter the sector they live in or the family they were born to, can achieve their ambitions and live without fear of unjust persecution or a lifetime of slavery.
I understand that I am asking you to risk your lives. Levana’s thaumaturges are powerful, her guards are skilled, her soldiers are brutal. But if we join together, we can be invincible. They can’t control us all. With the people united into one army, we will surround the capital city and overthrow the imposter who sits on my throne. Help me. Fight for me. And I will be the first ruler in the history of Luna who will also fight for you.
”
”
Marissa Meyer (Winter (The Lunar Chronicles, #4))
“
Coddly slammed a fist on the table. “No one will take you seriously if you do not act decisively.”
There was a beat of silence after his voice stopped echoing around the room, and the entire table sat motionless.
“Fine,” I responded calmly. “You’re fired.”
Coddly laughed, looking at the other gentlemen at the table. “You can’t fire me, Your Highness.”
I tilted my head, staring at him. “I assure you, I can. There’s no one here who outranks me at the moment, and you are easily replaceable.”
Though she tried to be discreet, I saw Lady Brice purse her lips together, clearly determined not to laugh. Yes, I definitely had an ally in her.
“You need to fight!” he insisted.
“No,” I answered firmly. “A war would add unnecessary strain to an already stressful moment and would cause an upheaval between us and the country we are now bound to by marriage. We will not fight.”
Coddly lowered his chin and squinted. “Don’t you think you’re being too emotional about this?”
I stood, my chair screeching behind me as I moved. “I’m going to assume that you aren’t implying by that statement that I’m actually being too female about this. Because, yes, I am emotional.”
I strode around the opposite side of the table, my eyes trained on Coddly. “My mother is in a bed with tubes down her throat, my twin is now on a different continent, and my father is holding himself together by a thread.”
Stopping across from him, I continued. “I have two younger brothers to keep calm in the wake of all this, a country to run, and six boys downstairs waiting for me to offer one of them my hand.” Coddly swallowed, and I felt only the tiniest bit of guilt for the satisfaction it brought me. “So, yes, I am emotional right now. Anyone in my position with a soul would be. And you, sir, are an idiot. How dare you try to force my hand on something so monumental on the grounds of something so small? For all intents and purposes, I am queen, and you will not coerce me into anything.”
I walked back to the head of the table. “Officer Leger?”
“Yes, Your Highness?”
“Is there anything on this agenda that can’t wait until tomorrow?”
“No, Your Highness.”
“Good. You’re all dismissed. And I suggest you all remember who’s in charge here before we meet again.
”
”
Kiera Cass (The Crown (The Selection, #5))
“
Cinder." Kai pulled one leg onto the bank, turning his body so they were facing each other. He took her hands between his and her heart began to drum unexpectedly. Not because of his touch, and not even because of his low, serious tone, but because it occurred to Cinder all at once that Kai was nervous.
Kai was never nervous.
"I asked you once," he said, running his thumbs over her knuckles, "if you thought you would ever be willing to wear a crown again. Not as the queen of Luna, but ... as my empress. And you said that you would consider it, someday."
She swallowed a breath of cool night air. "And ... this is that day?"
His lips twitched, but didn't quite become a smile. "I love you. I want to be with you for the rest of my life. I want to marry you, and, yes, I want you to be my empress."
Cinder gaped at him for a long moment before she whispered, "That's a lot of wanting."
"You have no idea."
She lowered her lashes. "I might have some idea."
Kai released one of her hands and she looked up again to see him reaching into his pocket - the same that had held Wolf's and Scarlet's wedding rings before. His fist was closed when he pulled it out and Kai held it toward her, released a slow breath, and opened his fingers to reveal a stunning ring with a large ruby ringed in diamonds.
It didn't take long for her retina scanner to measure the ring, and within seconds it was filling her in on far more information than she needed - inane worlds like carats and clarity scrolled past her vision. But it was the ring's history that snagged her attention. It had been his mother's engagement ring once, and his grandmother's before that.
Kai took her hand and slipped the ring onto her finger. Metal clinked against metal, and the priceless gem looked as ridiculous against her cyborg plating as the simple gold band had looked on Wolf's enormous, deformed, slightly hairy hand.
Cinder pressed her lips together and swallowed, hard, before daring to meet Kai's gaze again.
"Cinder," he said, "will you marry me?"
Absurd, she thought.
The emperor of the Eastern Commonwealth was proposing to her. It was uncanny. It was hysterical.
But it was Kai, and somehow, that also made it exactly right.
"Yes," she whispered. "I will marry you."
Those simple words hung between them for a breath, and then she grinned and kissed him, amazed that her declaration didn't bring the surge of anxiety she would have expected years ago. He drew her into his arms, laughing between kisses, and she suddenly started to laugh too. She felt strangely delirious.
They had stood against all adversity to be together, and now they would forge their own path to love. She would be Kai's wife. She would be the Commonwealth's empress. And she had every intention of being blissfully happy for ever, ever after.
”
”
Marissa Meyer (Stars Above (The Lunar Chronicles, #4.5))