“They had an ordinary life, full of ordinary things-if love can ever be called that.”

“I just know there's no way to live without pain - no matter how long or short your life is. People let you down. You get hurt and do damage in return.”

“Good luck, Oretsev. Find the firebird, and when this is over, I'll see you well rewarded. A farmhouse in Udova. A dacha near the city. Whatever you want.""I don't need any of that. Just..." He drop...”

“I've always known that whatever marriage I made would be political. It would be about power, not love. But we might get lucky. In time, we might have both.''Or the third amplifier will turn me into...”

“Hope was tricky like water. Somehow it always found a way in.”

“I was done with hesitation. It wasn't just that we'd run out of options, or that so much was riding on the firebird's power. I'd simply grown ruthless enough or selfish enough to take another creat...”

“Oh, yeah. You're the best," I grinned back at him."Pumpkin, hello. Of course I am!”

“Mal was quiet for a long moment. Then he said, “I’m not sure who my first kill was. We were hunting the stag when we ran into a Fjerdan patrol on the northern border. I don’t think the fight lasted...”

“He tried to name which of the deadly seven might apply, and when he failed he decided to append an eighth, regret.”

“I now, weak, old, diseased, poor, dying, hold still my soul in my hands, and I regret nothing.”

“Regrets came up and asked me if Id like to own them. Declined them for the most part but took a few just so I wouldnt leave this relationship empty handed.”

“War is what happens when language fails.”

“Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime.”

“The world is full enough of hurts and mischances without wars to multiply them.”