Francesca

“So how had she bested him?
Sheer stubbornness. That pragmatic impulse that had allowed her to survive the orphanage, to endure so many years without using her power.
Something more.
He'd known the name for it once, a hundred lifetimes ago.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Rule of Wolves

“No, there was a better story here. He would become Yuri, let the boy do the talking for him, and when the time came, the monk would be his chosen one--a boy who came from nothing, endowed with great power.

They'd loved Alina's little fairy tale. They'd love this one too.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Rule of Wolves

“She had been Zoya’s teacher, feared and beloved, powerful beyond measure. “I watched her throw herself from a mountaintop. She sacrificed herself to stop you. Was that her martyrdom?”
The Darkling said nothing. Zoya couldn’t stop herself.
“Grigori was eaten by a bear. Elizaveta was drawn and quartered. Still, they returned. There are stories whispered in the Elbjen mountains of the Dark Mother. She crowds in when the nights grow long. She steals the heat from kitchen fires.”
“Liar.”
“Maybe. We all have stories to tell.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Rule of Wolves

“Beside Ruby, the Darkling lay in his black kefta. Who had tended him? I wondered, feeling an ache rise in my throat. Who had combed his dark hair back so neatly from his forehead? Who had folded his graceful hands on his chest?”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising