The Dragon Queen

He was conscious that something in [his] personality bolstered his confidence and allowed him to rest, to seek peace and find it. He never game a name to it, and never spoke of it. And never, never would he have allowed himself or anyone to call it – love

Some men know from birth that they are expendable… they fought to won. If you did not win, you did not run either

Remember this central truth. Your enemy is there because he, too, has weighed the consequences of failure and accepts them. Play always to win, because nothing else matters

At worst, they were vile creatures who needed to be wiped from the face of the earth. At best, such behavior shows a dangerous lack of self-control. The first business of a warrior is self-restraint

the little death. What would or could be left of a human being after such an experience?

Till we meet again, my heart awaits you.” “till we meet again, you will trouble my dreams”

God, to breathe. Air. You don’t know what it means until you cannot take a breath

He said truth has a taste, and this had the taste of truth. A wolf would put it that way, but I agree it does. Some things just don’t hang together, but others do. And a lot of times when you encounter it, you say, “I don’t want this to be right, but it probably is, even though it brings me to grief.”

For what is a flower but life’s expressed passion for itself. Sudden and brief, but certain and eternal at the same time

He was magnificent, and I will never forget that in that moment, I first loved him. And I never stopped loving him. I do now and always will. No one ever brought me more sorrow or pain or joy than he did. No, nothing, not even my sons, has ever outweighed the love I feel and still feel for him. And I believe – had I known what the future held for us: all the trouble, torment, battle, and grief of our lives – I still believe that I would have yielded my heart into his keeping as I did then

He is tremendously strong, she thought, and liked the idea, even as she had feared that strength when she first met him

I wish. I don’t know what I wish. That you were less I were more, perhaps. Yes, just possibly that’s it

One day she would be a formidable female, a creature to be reckoned with

He smiled at her, and she felt uncomfortable as she always did when he showed her affection as opposed to lust. Lust she expected from a man but not affection. The men in her life, her brothers and father, had not been affectionate; and lust would have been inappropriate, though she saw them direct that at other women, usually women of low rank, ripe to be used and cast aside

I saw he was now and always would be his own man

I am no ordinary woman, and born to a different fate. I would not go whimpering.

[he] was handsome. Just the sight of him stirred strange longings in me

She was afraid of men, with good reason, but she need not fear all of them. Cai loved her and somehow always would. But above all, she could trust him, because dishonesty wasn’t in him. Not always a good trait but a part of his nature. He kept faith without thinking about it at all. He couldn’t imagine not doing so

You are very lovely now and soon you will be beautiful. Ant not in an ordinary way. Youth is always beautiful, but you are like some creatures of fairy born to bring ill to mortals. Only trouble can follow such gifts

For when women take revenge, it is with all their hearts and souls, not to mention considerable inventiveness and ingenuity

Don’t flaunt your ignorance or try to insult me. I don’t suffer fools gladly and insults irritate me

Good practical intelligence. Why screech when there is no one to comfort you?

And then he remembered that the other function of sex is punishment – men use it to humiliate women. And since turnabout is fair play, women often use it to humiliate men

It is human, I think, when we encounter the marvelous to try and bring away some of it with us

I apologize.” “you aren’t sorry and don’t apologize.”

Love is important, and woman being shrewd bargainers probably know fame is not worth much. I’d much rather have something I can spend, eat, or love, thank you very much

You, why do you let me say such things when and where I shouldn’t?” “the problem is not ordering the course of your speech. Its shutting you up in the first place”

Desire was only another weapon, like hunger, loneliness, and cold arrayed against him by his tormentors

Then he turned and walked away, and I gazed after him in sorrow. “Don’t look so, girl. He’s the first to fall at your feet; he will not be the last”