Rachel Gillig > Quotes

“There once was a girl,” he murmured, “clever and good, who tarried in shadow in the depths of the wood. There also was a King—a shepherd by his crook, who reigned over magic and wrote the old book. The two were together, so the two were the same: “The girl, the King… and the monster they became.”
― Rachel Gillig, One Dark Window

“To the quiet girls with stories in their heads.
To their dreams—and their nightmares.”
― Rachel Gillig, One Dark Window

“Be wary. Be clever. Be good.”
― Rachel Gillig, One Dark Window

“He came for the girl... And got the monster instead.”
― Rachel Gillig, One Dark Window

“You don’t have to be good, or useful, for someone to care about you.”
― Rachel Gillig, The Knight and the Moth

“I'm just the wind in the trees, the shadow, and the fright. The echo in the leaves...the nightmare in the night.”
― Rachel Gillig, One Dark Window

“To anyone who’s ever felt lost in a wood. There is a
strange sort of finding in losing.”
― Rachel Gillig, Two Twisted Crowns

“Nothing is free. Nothing is safe. Magic is love, but also, it’s hate. It comes at a cost. You’re found, and you’re lost. Magic is love, but also, it’s hate.”
― Rachel Gillig, One Dark Window

“People who love you for your usefulness don't love you at all.”
― Rachel Gillig, The Knight and the Moth

“Here we are, my darling girl, he whispered to me. The end of all things. The last page of our story.”
― Rachel Gillig, Two Twisted Crowns

“When you do the right thing for the wrong reason, no one praises you. When you do the wrong thing for the right reason, everyone does, even though what is right and wrong depends entirely on the story you’re living in. And no one says they need recognition or praise or love, but we all hunger for it. We all want to be special.”
― Rachel Gillig, The Knight and the Moth

“Be wary, Be clever, Be good”
― Rachel Gillig, Two Twisted Crowns

“Which is more intricate?” he mused. “The designs of men, trying to reach gods, or that of gods, trying to reach men?” My hammer collided with a chunk of granite. “What is either to the intricacies of women, who reach both?”
― Rachel Gillig, The Knight and the Moth

“There once was a girl,” he said, his voice slick, “clever and good, who tarried in shadow in the depths of the wood. There also was a King—a shepherd by his crook, who reigned over magic and wrote the old book. The two were together, so the two were the same: “The girl, the King, and the monster they became.”
― Rachel Gillig, Two Twisted Crowns

“Are you still pretending?” I said, reveling in his gaze. Ravyn gave a surprised laugh and, in front of everyone, leaned in and kissed me. “I never was,” he whispered into my lips.”
― Rachel Gillig, One Dark Window

“You did not come all this way to yield to despair.”
― Rachel Gillig, Two Twisted Crowns

“It's hard to see who I am when I am lost in what's expected of me.”
― Rachel Gillig, The Knight and the Moth

“You want to throw me down. And I, prideful, disdainful, godless, want to drag you into the dirt with me.”
― Rachel Gillig, The Knight and the Moth

“Fear not, Bartholomew! Every day has its dog.”
― Rachel Gillig, The Knight and the Moth

“There were not enough pages in all the books Elm had read, in all the libraries he’d wandered, in all the notebooks he’d scrawled, that could measure—denote or describe—just how beautiful she was.”
― Rachel Gillig, Two Twisted Crowns

“You know this story, Bartholomew, though you do not remember it. I'll tell it to you as best I can and promise to be honest in my talebearing. If I'm not, that's hardly my fault. To tell a story is in part to tell a lie, isn't it?”
― Rachel Gillig, The Knight and the Moth

“I love when they argue,” Emory said into his soup. “Keeps my weak little heart beating.”
― Rachel Gillig, One Dark Window

“The berry of rowans is red, always red. The earth at its trunk is dark with blood shed. But a Prince is a man, and a man may be bled. He came for the girl… And got the monster instead.”
― Rachel Gillig, One Dark Window

“I am stronger than my doubts”
― Rachel Gillig, One Dark Window

“I am the shepherd of shadow. The phantom of the fright. The demon in the daydream.” Her yellow eyes flickered to Ravyn. “The nightmare in the night.”
― Rachel Gillig, One Dark Window

“I’d be your King, but always your servant. Never your keeper.”
― Rachel Gillig, Two Twisted Crowns

“It is easier, swearing ourselves to someone else's cause than to sit with who we are without one.”
― Rachel Gillig, The Knight and the Moth

“To the child in each of us, yearning to be special. Take my hand, you strange little creature, and together we shall walk beyond the wall.”
― Rachel Gillig, The Knight and the Moth

“I'll tell you a story, I whispered. It always helped me sleep as a child.
He nodded, folding his hands over his lap, and closed his eyes.
There once was a girl, clever and good, who tarried in shadow in the depths of the wood. There also was a King, a shepherd by his crook, who reigned over magic and wrote the old book. The two were together, so the two-
I couldn't go on.
Elspeth.
No. I'm not ready. Not yet.
Finish the story, dear one.
My voice shook. The two were together-
Together.
So the two were the same.
The girl, he whispered, honey and oil and silk.
The King...
We said the final words together, our voices echoing, listless, through the dark. A final note. An eternal farewell. And the monster they became.”
― Rachel Gillig, Two Twisted Crowns

“Except, in this fairy tale, the maiden has blood on her hands.”
― Rachel Gillig, One Dark Window