Raffaele Laurent Bessette Quotes

“The first time Raffaele ever saw Adelina, it was a stormy-wracked night that changed her life and, indeed, the world. He recalls looking down from the window in his Dalia lodging to see a girl with silver-bright hair, conjuring an illusion of darkness such that he had never seen. He remembers the day she first came to his chambers in Estenzia, when Enzo was still alive and she was still innocent, and the way she looked up at him with her uncertain, damaged gaze. He remembers her test, and what he said to Enzo that night. How long ago that had been. How he had judged her wrongly.”
― Marie Lu, The Midnight Star

“As the sun starts to rise, I watch as Raffaele bends over Enzo’s body, the two of us mourning the prince we both loved.”
― Marie Lu, The Midnight Star

“Raffaele reaches Enzo. Flames still burn on Enzo's hands, but for some reason, he doesn't move to attack. Instead, he waits as Raffaele reaches up to curl a hand around the back of his neck, then pulls him close so that their foreheads touch. Tears streak Raffaele's face. Suddenly I remember how he had looked on the day he turned his back on me, the way he had closed his eyes when I begged him to let me stay. It is the same expression he wears now.”
― Marie Lu, The Rose Society

“I smile bitterly at him, then weave an illusion of his face across my own. Raffaele’s expression flickers in surprise for a moment before settling back into its pool of calm. “They may have a hard time finding me,” I reply.
Raffaele gives me a tight smile in return. “Do not underestimate your enemies, Your Majesty,” he says.”
― Marie Lu, The Midnight Star

“Make no mistake—we don’t trust each other, not by any stretch of the imagination.”
― Marie Lu, The Midnight Star

“Of everything I thought he might say, it was not this. I can only stare at him in disbelief. Then I start to laugh and the whispers join me. You really must be going mad.
Something about Raffaele’s expression finally makes my laughter subside. “You’re serious,” I say, tilting my head in a mock imitation of his familiar gesture. “You must be desperate to think that I would work with you and the Daggers.”
― Marie Lu, The Midnight Star

“I keep a fair distance between Raffaele and myself as we walk. He seems to do the same, and we don’t look at each other as we make our way down the long steps of the Tamouran palace’s main gates, where horses are waiting for us. From there, we ride underneath a cloudy sky that threatens more rain.”
― Marie Lu, The Midnight Star

“There are four places where the spirits still wander," he replies, quoting some ancient tome. "The snow-covered Dark of Night, the forgotten paradise of Sobri Elan, the Glass Pillars of Dumon, and the human mind, that eternally mysterious realm where ghosts shall forever walk.”
― Marie Lu, The Midnight Star

“His voice seems to linger in the air, though, words I haven't heard from him in years... and somewhere, deep in my chest, stirs the presence of a girl buried long ago.”
― Marie Lu, The Midnight Star