Madeleine

“Will you come with me?"
"Ah, Kestrel, that's something you never need to ask.”
― Marie Rutkoski, The Winner's Kiss

“It was an old Herrani flag, stitched with the royal crest.

Arin said, "But the royal line is gone."

"They're looking for something to call you, Kestrel said, nudging Javelin forward.

"Not this. It's not right."

"Don't worry. They'll find the right words to describe you."

"And you."

"Oh, that's easy."

"It is?" It seemed impossible to name every thing she was to him.

Kestrel's expression was serious, luminous. He loved to see her like this. "They'll say that I'm yours," she told him, "just as you are mine.”
― Marie Rutkoski, The Winner's Kiss

“Arin pulled her onto his lap. He held her shaking form, tucked his face into the crook of her cold neck as she sobbed against him. He murmured that he loved her more than he could say. He promised that he would always choose her first.”
― Marie Rutkoski, The Winner's Kiss

“He told himself a story. Not at first. At first, there wasn’t time for thoughts that came in the shape of words. His head was blessedly empty of stories then. War was coming. It was upon him. Arin had been born in the year of the god of death, and he was finally glad of it. He surrendered himself to his god, who smiled and came close. Stories will get you killed, he murmured in Arin’s ear. Now, you just listen. Listen to me.”
― Marie Rutkoski, The Winner's Kiss