Shelly

“She's just one of the plethora of women you rotate through your bed." Lily looked scared out of her mind as the queen changed direction and stalked her. "I will not allow you to besmirch the Esca name with your filthy plot to steal the prince.”
― Therisa Peimer, Taming Flame

“It started to feel like this thing happening to me was an invisible wall between us, a barrier none of us wanted to acknowledge but that was continuously pushing us apart. I started to feel like an outsider even among my closest friends.”
― Alan Bradley, The Sixth Borough

“Maybe no great man is virtuous. Or good. Perhaps a man rich in those qualities by definition is barred from greatness.”
― Colleen McCullough, Masters of Rome Collection Books I - V: First Man in Rome, The Grass Crown, Fortune's Favourites, Caesar's Women, Caesar

“I don’t think so, said the captain. Their ship is clearly outfitted with weapons systems that it did not have when it left Terrene over 600 years ago. And they are pointed directly at us.”
― Steven Decker, The Balance of Time