Amie > Amie's Quotes

“Because I am greedy for the sight of you. Because the prospect of facing this war, this loss, without you fills me with fear. Because I find I don’t want to fight for a future if I can’t find a way to make a future with you.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Rule of Wolves

“I would give you a crown if I could,” he said. “I would show you the world from the prow of a ship. I would choose you, Zoya. As my general, as my friend, as my bride. I would give you a sapphire the size of an acorn.” He reached into his pocket. “And all I would ask in return is that you wear this damnable ribbon in your hair on our wedding day.”
She reached out, her fingers hovering over the coil of blue velvet ribbon resting in his palm. Then she pulled back her hand, cradling her fingers as if they’d been singed.
“You will wed a Taban sister who craves a crown,” she said. “Or a wealthy Kerch girl, or maybe a Fjerdan royal. You will have heirs and a future. I’m not the queen Ravka needs.”
“And if you’re the queen I want?”
She shut her eyes. “There’s a story my aunt told me a very long time ago. I can’t remember all of it, but I remember the way she described the hero: ‘He had a golden spirit.’ I loved those words. I made her read them again and again. When I was a little girl, I thought I had a golden spirit too, that it would light everything it touched, that it would make me beloved like a hero in a story.” She sat up, drew her knees in, wrapped her arms around them as if she could make a shelter of her own body. He wanted to pull her back down beside him and press his mouth to hers. He wanted her to look at him again with possibility in her eyes. “But that’s not who I am. Whatever is inside me is sharp and gray as the thorn wood.” She rose and dusted off her kefta. “I wasn’t born to be a bride. I was made to be a weapon.”
Nikolai forced himself to smile. It wasn’t as if he’d offered her a real proposal. They both knew such a thing was impossible. And yet her refusal smarted just as badly as if he’d gotten on his knee and offered her his hand like some kind of besotted fool. It stung. All Saints, it stung.
“Well,” he said cheerfully, pushing up onto his elbows and looking up at her with all the wry humor he could muster. “Weapons are good to have around too. Far more useful than brides and less likely to mope about the palace. But if you won’t rule Ravka by my side, what does the future hold, General?”
Zoya opened the door to the cargo hold. Light flooded in, gilding her features when she looked back at him. “I’ll fight on beside you. As your general. As your friend. Because whatever my failings, I know this: You are the king Ravka needs.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Rule of Wolves

“I took a breath. “Your highness—”
“Nikolai,” he corrected. “But I’ve also been known to answer to ‘sweetheart’ or ‘handsome.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Siege and Storm

“I hope you weren’t looking to me to be the voice of reason. I keep to a strict diet of ill-advised enthusiasm and heartfelt regret.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising

“Stop punishing yourself for being someone with a heart. You cannot protect yourself from suffering. To live is to grieve. You are not protecting yourself by shutting yourself off from the world. You are limiting yourself.”
― Leigh Bardugo, King of Scars

“Jesper couldn’t quite believe he was having a conversation with the Sturmhond. The privateer was a legend. He’d broken countless blockades on behalf of the Ravkans and there were rumors that… “Do you really have a flying ship? blurted Jesper.
“No.”
“Oh.”
“I have several.”
“Take me with you.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Crooked Kingdom

“You’re mad,” I said. “You know what he can do. No prize is worth that.”
Sturmhond grinned. “That remains to be seen.”
“The Darkling will hunt you for the rest of your days.”
“Then you and I will have something in common, won’t we? Besides, I like to have powerful enemies. Makes me feel important.”
Mal crossed his arms and considered the privateer. “I can’t decide if you’re crazy or stupid.”
“I have so many good qualities,” Sturmhond said. “It can be hard to choose.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Siege and Storm

“Nikolai had been told that hope was dangerous, had been warned of it many times. But he’d never believed that. Hope was the wind that came from nowhere to fill your sails and carry you home.”
― Leigh Bardugo, King of Scars

“Anything worth doing always starts as a bad idea.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Siege and Storm

“Do that thing you do where you use too many words to say something simple and confuse the issue.”
― Leigh Bardugo, King of Scars

“It's not exciting if nothing can go wrong.”
― Leigh Bardugo, King of Scars

“There had been a time when words had been the only place he could find solace. No book ever lost patience with him or told him to sit still. When his tutors had thrown up their hands in frustration, it was the library that had taught Nikolai military history, strategy, chemistry, astronomy. Each spine had been an open door away whispering, Come in, come in. Here is the land you’ve never seen before. Here is a place to hide when you’re frightened, to play when you’re bored, to rest when the world seems unkind.”
― Leigh Bardugo, King of Scars

“Wretched boy.”
“You like him,” I said in disbelief.
Baghra scowled. “Greedy. Arrogant. Takes too many risks.”
“You almost sound concerned.”
“You like him too, little Saint,” she said with a leer in her voice.
“I do,” I admitted. “He’s been kind when he might have been cruel. It’s refreshing.”
“He laughs too much.”
“There are worse traits.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising

“I like to bet on myself whenever I can. But usually with other people’s money.”
― Leigh Bardugo, King of Scars

“Her time is better spent with me. The thorn wood is a path you walk alone, boy king.”
“But it’s a very arduous path,” Nikolai said. “Who will carry my snacks?”
― Leigh Bardugo, King of Scars

“I suppose that's why I love you."
His eyes flew open and his face lit in an extraordinary grin. "All Saints, say it again."
"I will not."
"You must."
"I'm the queen. I must do nothing but please myself."
"Would it please you to kiss me?”
― Leigh Bardugo, Rule of Wolves

“Maybe the gift of being human is that we do not give up- even when all hope is lost.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Rule of Wolves

“None of this had been fated; none of it foretold. There had been no prophecies of a demon king or a dragon queen, a one-eyed Tailor, Heartrender twins. They were just the people who had shown up and managed to survive.
But maybe that was the trick of it: to survive, to dare to stay alive, to forge your own hope when all hope had run out.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Rule of Wolves

“But if you loved a thing, the work was never done”
― Leigh Bardugo, King of Scars

“Is it the shadow inside you that makes you brave?"
"I should hope not. I was making bad decisions long before that thing showed up.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Rule of Wolves

“The less you say, the more weight your words will carry.
Don’t argue. Never deign to deny. Meet insults with laughter.

“You didn’t laugh at the Fjerdan captain,” I observed.
“That wasn’t an insult. It was a challenge,” he said. “Know the difference.”

Weakness is a guise. Wear it when they need to know you’re human, but never when you feel it.
Don’t wish for bricks when you can build from stone. Use whatever or whoever is in front of you.
Being a leader means someone is always watching you.
Get them to follow the little orders, and they’ll follow the big ones.
It’s okay to flout expectations, but never disappoint them.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Siege and Storm

“Who are you, and what are you playing at?”
“Nikolai Lantsov, but please don’t make me recite my titles again. It’s no fun for anybody, and the only important one is ‘prince.’”
“And what about Sturmhond?” I asked.
“I’m also Sturmhond, commander of the Volkvolny, scourge of the True Sea.”
“Scourge?”
“Well, I’m vexing at the very least.”
I shook my head. “Impossible.”
“Improbable.”
“This is not the time to try to be entertaining.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Siege and Storm

“I believe in all kinds of things. Ghosts. Gnomes. True love.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Rule of Wolves

“You do realize you just referred to yourself as the queen. That means you agreed."
"I am going to kill you."
"So long as you kiss me again before you do.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Rule of Wolves

“He had wanted her for so long that it seemed impossible he should actually have her beside him every day, that he might lay down beside her every night. Not impossible, he supposed. Just improbable.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Rule of Wolves

“I would make you my queen because I want you. I want you all the time.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Rule of Wolves

“She brushed the hair back from his face, placed a kiss on his forehead. "I would stay forever if I could", she whispered.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Rule of Wolves

“ You should have said yes, she thought for the hundredth time. You should have told him you love him. ”
― Leigh Bardugo, Rule of Wolves

“
You are strong enough to survive the fall. They were plummeting toward the sea. Zoya felt Genya’s arms around her, Liliyana holding her tight. She felt Nikolai’s presence beside her and Juris’ sword in her hands.
With a wild, gasping breath, she felt her wings unfurl.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Rule of Wolves

“I'm not the queen Ravka needs.
"And if you're the queen I want?”
― Leigh Bardugo, Rule of Wolves