K.X. Song > Quotes

“I needed to prove that I, as a woman, could be better than the rest of them. That I too could belong. That I too could be free.”
― K.X. Song, The Night Ends with Fire

“My hunger roused me. In the depths of the sea, I drew upon my greed, my insatiable ambition. I cried out to my shadow self, my truest self, and reached for her through her iron imprisonment. I understood now why I was called a perversion. It was unnatural for a woman to have this kind of ambition, and yet I existed. My existence was my birthright, and it would be my justification.”
― K.X. Song, The Night Ends with Fire

“I spat at his words. The idea that his victory meant nothing to him only further enraged me. Perhaps because it came at such great cost to my future. Perhaps because my own life meant everything to me.”
― K.X. Song, The Night Ends with Fire

“The truth was, I could not bear to think of my future, as uncertain as it was. If it was wretched, I did not wish to know. And if it was sweet, how much more painful to have it stolen from me?”
― K.X. Song, The Night Ends with Fire

“Because it was depravity, for a woman to desire more than her lot in life. To aspire to more than safety, protection. To aspire to power.”
― K.X. Song, The Night Ends with Fire

“If you want to put a target on your back, make sure you're strong enough to carry the target first.”
― K.X. Song, The Night Ends with Fire

“His lip curled. “Your emotions are getting the better of you.” And now my temper blazed brilliant and searing, hot enough to match his. “Oh, so now that I’m a woman everything I say is due to my emotions?”
― K.X. Song, The Night Ends with Fire

“She swallowed hard. 'They would never let a woman hold on to power.”
― K.X. Song, The Night Ends with Fire

“I'm not a good person, Meilin," he said. "But the difference between me and your little Anlai hero-I've never pretended otherwise.”
― K.X. Song, The Night Ends with Fire

“I know you're strong," said Lei, his eyes ruminative in the fire light, "but being strong doesn't mean you don't deserve to be protected and taken care of.”
― K.X. Song, The Dragon Wakes with Thunder

“I knew red was your color," he said. "Your beauty rivals the moon, fair Meilin.”
― K.X. Song, The Night Ends with Fire

“What is love—if not care for one another? Pride in all that you’ve done. Belief in what you will continue to do. And hope—hope that we will grow together”
― K.X. Song, The Dragon Wakes with Thunder

“Lei's eyes crinkled. "I can't give up all my secrets," he said. "Where's the fun in that?”
― K.X. Song, The Dragon Wakes with Thunder

“They say a girl with an ill-fated mother is doomed to follow in her footsteps.”
― K.X. Song, The Night Ends with Fire

“That young girl from a year ago, the one who’d dreamed of adventure, of seeing the world beyond the women’s quarters. She had sought wonder, wildness. She had believed in the world’s capacity for beauty. Only a year had passed, and yet I could no longer recall what that felt like. To believe in the goodness of people. To seek justice but live with compassion. To hope for better days. There was no hope for someone like me.”
― K.X. Song, The Dragon Wakes with Thunder

“Wood, fire, earth, metal, water, I recited,”
― K.X. Song, The Night Ends with Fire

“Lei said nothing, a tendon in his neck rising as he swallowed. "I'll remember," he said at last, his voice low yet thrumming with power. "For as long as I live.”
― K.X. Song, The Dragon Wakes with Thunder

“Women and children are like garments, but brothers are like limbs. If you lose a piece of clothing, you can get another. But if you lose a limb, you'll always feel its lost.”
― K.X. Song, The Night Ends with Fire

“I recalled what Sky had taught me and ran at a zigzag, darting from left to right as I made for the river.”
― K.X. Song, The Night Ends with Fire

“I understood now why I was called a perversion. It was unnatural for a woman to have this kind of ambition, and yet I existed. My existence was my birthright, and it would be my justification.”
― K.X. Song, The Night Ends with Fire

“I was a mess of contradictions. I craved intimacy, and yet, when offered it, I found myself unworthy. I wanted affection, and yet, when someone showed me how much they cared, I shrank from that trust, as if it were a collar around my throat. I did not know what I desired anymore. I had been the one to come here late at night, to wake him from his rest, to demand his attention, and now I was the one pulling away, trying to hurt him, trying to hide from him. And still there was a part of me that long to be known, that begged him to forgive me, to understand me, to not let me push him away.”
― K.X. Song, The Dragon Wakes with Thunder

“She too would one day speak with the matchmaker, and the same fate would fall upon her. The thought sent despair coiling in my gut. No wonder Anlai mothers tried so hard not to love their daughters. It was like exiling a piece of your own heart.”
― K.X. Song, The Night Ends with Fire

“You're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen," he said quietly.
Now I rolled my eyes in earnest. "I'm the only woman you've seen in months."
He laughed softly. For once, I slept without nightmares.”
― K.X. Song

“I nodded. Most children knew of the fabled dragon, phoenix, tiger, and tortoise, who controlled the four directions and winds.”
― K.X. Song, The Night Ends with Fire

“I peered at him. "How do I know I can trust you?"

"You don't," he said easily. "But isn't it so much more interesting this way?”
― K.X. Song, The Dragon Wakes with Thunder

“I tried to ignore the visceral discomfort that Rose at the dragon's words. For these were qualities I desired in myself. Xiuying was benevolent and tender-hearted. Sky was noble and kind. These were traits I tried to mimic, strengths I knew that Heroes of every Legend possessed. But who was I diluting? I was not the hero of this story.”
― K.X. Song, The Night Ends with Fire

“You’re not missing out on much, I’ll tell you that,” he said. “Anlai is the most beautiful place in the world.” I could hear the smile in his voice. “With the most beautiful women.” Was he . . . flirting with me?”
― K.X. Song, The Night Ends with Fire

“It is not justice," Sky spit out. "It is your undue privilege as prince, to not experience the consequences of your own actions."
Lei smirked. "I'm sure you don't relate.”
― K.X. Song, The Night Ends with Fire

“Unexpectedly, tears pricked my eyes. I had cried many times for the mother I’d lost, stolen by death. But now I cried for the mother I’d never known—not the empty shell of a woman bound to my father, but the reckless, foolhardy girl she’d been before that, years ago. I cried for her. I cried for the inheritance she’d left me.”
― K.X. Song, The Night Ends with Fire

“I told you what I am," he said, his voice a low rasp. " But what I didn't tell you is this - if they had taken your life today, I would have hunted down every last one of them. I would have scoured the Three Kingdoms for every soul responsible - and I would have given each of them a slow, slow death. And then, once I was finished, I would have followed you to the afterlife. I would have found you, and dragged you back from the hands of Death itself.”
― K.X. Song, The Dragon Wakes with Thunder