Maddy

“If you’re the sickness, I suppose you can’t also be the cure.”
― Holly Black, The Wicked King

“For even dead, I will not die. I am the shepherd of shadow. The phantom of the fright. The demon in the daydream. The nightmare in the night.”
― Rachel Gillig, Two Twisted Crowns

“I'll tell you a story, I whispered. It always helped me sleep as a child.
He nodded, folding his hands over his lap, and closed his eyes.
There once was a girl, clever and good, who tarried in shadow in the depths of the wood. There also was a King, a shepherd by his crook, who reigned over magic and wrote the old book. The two were together, so the two-
I couldn't go on.
Elspeth.
No. I'm not ready. Not yet.
Finish the story, dear one.
My voice shook. The two were together-
Together.
So the two were the same.
The girl, he whispered, honey and oil and silk.
The King...
We said the final words together, our voices echoing, listless, through the dark. A final note. An eternal farewell. And the monster they became.”
― Rachel Gillig, Two Twisted Crowns

“Have I told you how hideous you look tonight?” Cardan asks, leaning back in the elaborately carved chair, the warmth of his words turning the question into something like a compliment.
“No” I say, glad to be annoyed back into the present. “Tell me.”
"I can't.”
― Holly Black, The Cruel Prince