Ash

“Ysoldette looked at the holy woman looming over her, and wondered at the miracle of a snap judgment that no one could find fault in. It wasn’t the first time it had inspired this in her, but her communion with Lady Vago had deepened her awe of such a blessing. All those nights spent lying awake, the hours poring over records of past rulings, the long, heated conversations with her husband. Is this real justice, is this true mercy? How tender are these graces? The questions had never become easier to answer over time, and Lord Vago’s murder had robbed all joy from this impossible pursuit. But even that had not been enough to persuade the baroness to give up the chase. Neither had her own death.”
― A K M Beach

“You think a king
worth more than other men?
Xau did not,
despite my efforts
to correct his misconception.”
― Mary Soon Lee, The Sign of the Dragon

“You're cold."

"Listen, Mister Damn-the-Torpedoes—"

"No. It was a compliment. Cold, ethical people save more lives than hotheads." He forced himself to look halfway relaxed. It didn't really work. Like it or not, he had an edge showing; he didn't think of himself as harmless, not at the moment, and it was visible somehow. "It’s a trait I’ve tried to cultivate myself, especially," a split second of distress, not quite a wince, "in the last three years. Can’t say I’m all that good at it.”
― Isabel Pelech, A Normil Day

“and I know I was going somewhere with this, I just seem to have followed the sentence into a blind alley only to wake up later with a headache and my pockets empty of spare vocabulary. Again. Where was I when I lost you?”
― Isabel Pelech, Echoes of the Ancients