QueenCapri

“wasn’t a prison, exactly, and it wasn’t a dungeon — it certainly wasn’t an oubliette — but Qibli had never felt more trapped than he did that day, waiting for his mother in his grandfather’s observatory. It was a beautiful little black marble building, actually, with a dome set up higher than all the other structures in the compound. Diamonds twinkled like stars everywhere, scattered throughout the walls and columns. Moon shapes were carved all around the outside of the building, from crescent to full, outlined with milky pale moonstones. Inside, the floor was covered with large silk pillows in silver and black and soft dark blue carpets where dragons could lie down to look up at the sky. On two sides of the dome, telescopes pointed at one of the moons, and star charts lined the walls. Under any other circumstances, Qibli would have adored this place. But here and now he found it unsettling, because he knew it was a re-creation of the old observatory in the SandWing palace — one that hadn’t been used in years, since before the war. Which made him think of how long his grandfather had been alive, and how deeply entwined with the monarchy he had once been. It made him think of Queen Thorn, struggling to put the kingdom back together while a danger like Vulture and Onyx’s conspiracy crept up on her.”
― Tui T. Sutherland, Darkness of Dragons

“it never even occurred to her that she might not belong there.”
― Peter Brown, The Wild Robot

“said,”
― Tui T. Sutherland, Darkness of Dragons

“Each morning”
― Peter Brown, The Wild Robot