“That's interesting," Bitterblue said. "You think a conscience requires fear?”

“I wonder if it's meant to be punishment for something one can't forgive oneself for. Or an external expression, Lady Queen, of an internal pain? Or perhaps it's a way to realise that you actually d...”

“Find something useful to do with your morning,' she thought to him as she neared her chambers. 'Do something heroic in front of an audience. Knock a child into a river while no one's looking and th...”

“Katsa and Po were trying to drown each other and, judging from their hoots of laughter, enjoying it immensely.”

“Madlen came to sit beside her on the bed. "Lady Queen," she said with her own particular brand of rough gentleness. "It is not the job of the child to protect her mother. It's the mother's job to p...”

“Truths are dangerous," he said."Then why are you writing them in a book?""To catch them between the pages," said Teddy, "and trap them before they disappear.”

“Would you please do me the honor of telling me WHAT THE BLAZES IS GOING ON?”

“Im bored to death. Perhaps I should pillage one of my neighbors for my own amusement. It seems to work for Drowden.”

“King Drowden has given his men instructions to infiltrate the town, bribe townspeople for the secrets of their neighbors, steal the neighbors hidden treasures. Much more subtle than Drowdens usual ...”

“One day you will kiss a man you can't breathe without, and find that breath is of little consequence.”

“The sunlight claps the earth, and the moonbeams kiss the sea: what are all these kissings worth, if thou kiss not me?”

“Stephen kissed me in the spring,Robin in the fall,But Colin only looked at meAnd never kissed at all.Stephens kiss was lost in jest,Robins lost in play,But the kiss in Colins eyesHaunts me night an...”