Samera

“He is the hunting song calling through the night.
The broken boy beneath the lash.
It ends where it begins.
It begins with him.”
― Kester Grant, The Court of Miracles

“Do not cry for me, I am already dead."
"No, not dead, the dead at least are free.”
― Kester Grant, The Court of Miracles

“Do you see the colours, Salama?' Kenan whispers.

The sunset is gorgeous, but it pales in comparison to him. He's drenched in the dying day's glow, a kaleidoscope of shades dancing on his face. Pink, orange, yellow, purple, red. Finally settling into an azure blue. It reminds me of Layla's painting. A colour so stark it would stain my fingers were I to touch it.

As the sun sinks, in those few precious moments when the world is caught between day and night, something shifts between Kenan and me. 'Yes,' I breathe. 'Yes.”
― Zoulfa Katouh, As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow

“Our mother the City is not a merciful mother,' she says as she gathers my hair in one hand. 'To be a girl in this city is to be weak. It is to call evil things down upon you. And the City is not kind to weak things. She sends Death the Endless to winnow the frail from the strong. You know this.”
― Kester Grant, The Court of Miracles