Divine Rivals Quotes
"You brilliant academic who has yet to miss a day of class in all her years. They give awards for that, you know."
"Promise me you’ll enjoy your final year of school, and I’ll be back in time to see you graduate."
"Just in case you didn’t know … you are by far the best sister I’ve ever had. I’m so proud of you."
"Has anyone ever told you that you squint when you lie?"
"It’s not about how the gods’ war began, is it? That’s old news, Winnow, and people here in Oath are sick of reading about it."
"The city was ancient, built centuries ago on the grave of a conquered god."
"It was as if someone wanted to steal the knowledge of the past."
"I’ve always wanted to write about things that matter. To write things that inspire or inform people."
"Such is the weight of immortality."
"Is it possible to love a stranger?"
"I think for this particular article, your words should be sharp as knives. You want the readers to feel this wound in their chest, even though they’ve never experienced a missing loved one."
"It takes courage to let down your armor, to welcome people to see you as you are."
"A world where my brother is home safe, and my mother is well, and I write words that I don’t despise half of the time."
"And yet I keep moving forward."
"Grief is a long, difficult process, especially when it is so racked by guilt."
"Because I want to write about things that matter. I want my words to be like a line, cast out into the darkness."
"It isn’t the wardrobes connecting us. It’s our typewriters."
"Why does this place feel dead?"
"I think there is a magical link between you and me. A bond that not even distance can break."
"Enva, who loved the sky and the taste of the wind, was not happy in the realm below."
"Her voice, pure and sweet, rose and reverberated through the rock."
"Enva wondered how long they would sleep. How long would her music hold them ensorcelled?"
"I want to see you. I want to hear your voice."
"If I had wings, I would fly home for a day."
"A war with the gods is not what you expect it to be."
"But she had felt loss, and she sought to see the war through that lens."
"Do you think it’s possible to fall in love with a stranger?"
"These days, I think anything is possible, Iris."
"You remove a piece of armor for them; you let the light stream in, even if it makes you wince."
"Dear Iris, You don’t know what’s coming in the days ahead, but you’re doing just fine. You are so much stronger than you think, than you feel. Don’t be afraid. Keep going. Write the things you need to read. Write what you know to be true."
"It seemed impossible that a day this lovely could turn sour so quickly."
"She could see his face, and the scowl lifted from his brow as he saw her. Recognized her."
"The soldiers called one another brother and sister, as if the war had forged bonds that were deeper than blood."
"Roman Kitt was a mystery. A mystery she was tempted to solve."
"That was what he was absently thinking about—his gratitude for the wind, Iris, his future articles, Iris—when the blasts came, rupturing the quiet, blue-skyed afternoon."
"Iris began to pull back. 'Kitt. Kitt!' Roman whirled to look at her. His panic was rushing through him like hot oil. 'We have to run, Iris.'"
"She couldn’t bear to live in a world without him. 'Kitt?' she called to him, resting her palm over his heart."
"We and they would write on their typewriters and ruthlessly edit each other’s pieces and read books by candlelight at night."
"A transcendent connection. A divine threshold."
"Your letters have been a light for me to follow."
"Sometimes I still feel his hand in mine, drawing me through the smoke and terror of the trenches."
"I am so afraid. And yet how I long to be vulnerable and brave when it comes to my own heart."
"If I tell you anything else today, you’ll grow tired of me."
"To know that you would still want to write to me, but also that you were so far away." - Roman
"Your letters have been a light for me to follow. Your words? A sublime feast that fed me on days when I was starving. I love you, Iris."
"I want to spend all my days and all my nights with you. Marry me."
"It isn’t a crime to feel joy."
"You deserve all the happiness in the world."
"He asked for my approval. At first I said I wasn’t sure if I could grant it, because you were falling in love with a boy named Carver who wrote you enchanting, soul-stirring letters, and how on earth could Kitt even compare to that? Upon which he informed me that he is Carver and showed me proof. And what else could I say but yes, you have my approval, a hundred times over."
"I pray that my days will be long at your side. Let me fill and satisfy every longing in your soul. May your hand be in mine, by sun and by night. Let our breaths twine and our blood become one, until our bones return to dust. Even then, may I find your soul still sworn to mine."
My Iris," he said, "there is no question that you are the brave one, all on your own. You were writing to me for weeks before I roused the courage to write you back.
"I think you and I are simply better together, Kitt."
"She felt safe with him, skin to skin. She felt full and complete; she felt the wholeness in the dark, this weaving together of vows and body and choice."
"Kitt!" she whispered. And she didn’t think he could hear her, but she hoped he could feel the force of such a whisper in his chest. How deep her love was for him."
"Roman's lips parted, as if he wanted to argue. She knew his thoughts, the reason why he was frowning. He didn’t want any sort of distance to come between them."
"I am broken, full of contradictions."
"I never told you that I love you. And I regret that, most of all."
"The war felt distant, no more than a dream."