Lyra

“If I could use every skill I learned from the back-alley criminals, I would have.
How dare he speak of her. How dare he speak of lost children when he made a choice to lose his, when I would have taken my own life a thousand times over to save her.
I would've undertaken ask his labors without blinking for even a chance of saving mine, when he did them to forget his.”
― Phoenicia Rogerson, Herc

“Loving people. That's a fucking flaw if you want to be a hero. Being willing to give your life for someone is all well and good but it means sooner or later you'll give your life for someone and that'll be the end of the story. Heroes can't afford for that to happen.”
― Phoenicia Rogerson, Herc

“Conscious of her steady gaze, Theron stared in turn at the fire. For seventeen, almost eighteen years, Lilyana had been, as she was now, a quiet sounding board for his fears. She's stood serene against this temper and from the maelstrom pulled, nearly every time, the true reason for his anger. Even when he hadn't been sure of it himself. He'd been a better king with her beside him. Probably a better person. Had he ever told her that? He glanced up from the flames, caught her eye, and realized she knew. For a moment, there was only the two of them, then the moment passed and he sighed.”
― Tanya Huff

“Amusement flashed in his eyes.
I had fed off that look once, when I had been starving and thought such crumbs a feast.”
― Madeline Miller