The Black Key Quotes
"The rain doesn’t bother me. I want to lift my hood and let the water splash on my cheeks. I want to join with it and feel myself fall from the sky in a million little pieces."
"We have to be careful with who we choose—only girls going to the Auction, who will be on the trains heading directly inside the Jewel."
"The unfairness is like a slap in the face. A huge part of the Lone City’s population is living in squalor and no one cares. Worse, no one really knows."
"Once to see it as it is. Twice to see it in your mind. Thrice to bend it to your will."
"I wonder how this day will be for Ginger and Tawny and Henna. They must feel so strange, so alive, everything vibrant and new, colors more clear, scents more potent."
"But her laughter has returned, and her wit—especially when she talks to Garnet. And she trains each day with Ash, strengthening her once frail body until her wiry frame has become lean and hard."
"But it’s okay, we’re already in a place where the sleeping occupants of Southgate can’t hear us."
"We’re lucky. Otherwise some poor girl might have accidentally destroyed her room in her sleep. It would be hard to explain that to the caretakers."
"Violet. I did not write you out of my life," he says, "but I would never want to assume my plans would line up with yours. You have the right to choose what you want for yourself."
"I almost want to laugh because the last time I was here, not only did no one ask my name, but I was forbidden to even try and say it out loud."
"The memories are so strong they threaten to crush me."
"The smell of the earth is different here than in the Farm—there’s a chemical note to it that makes my nose wrinkle."
"I wonder if he’s still mad. I picture him, alone in our hayloft, stewing over where I am, if I’m all right, why I had to leave him."
"I’m proud of you," I say shyly. "For whatever that’s worth."
"She promised me. She promised. And then you came along and fell in love with that stupid companion and got her killed."
"‘We’d rather die fighting the royalty than serving them,’ I remind her."
"I’m not going to let anything happen to you."
"‘It’s like Ash said,’ I remind her. ‘I’d rather die fighting the royalty than serving them.’"
"‘I have to go,’ I say. ‘But I’ll come back, I swear.’"
"‘No,’ I gasp. ‘Raven . . . tell me it’s not true. Please. He . . . he’ll die there.’"
"‘Please,’ I say. ‘Don’t finish that sentence.’"
"‘I can’t even reach out to most of those Regimentals personally. It’s too dangerous,’ he frowns."
"The people you love make you strong, Violet. They make you brave and fearless."
"I wish there were some way I could make you see that."
"I’ve never seen the Duchess look like this before."
"I want to feel as though I am loved, no matter what decisions or mistakes I’ve made."
"The only way to truly save Hazel is to destroy the royalty and surrogacy once and for all."
"I have lived in this circle a very long time. It ages you. It changes you."
"People from every circle represented. I want the people of this city to have a legitimate say in how they live their lives."
"We are unloved, and unlovable. That’s what they train us to think."
"I won’t just be another anonymous companion overdose."
"The only thing more terrible than a hell of suffering is a hell of boredom."
"You have no power in this city. And I am no mere lady-in-waiting."
"This island would be nothing without us. We made it great."
"When all you have left is lemons, make lemonade."
"We are the Paladin. We are more powerful than rock and stone."
"There were people here, and your ancestors, the ones you are so proud of, killed them all."
"I will not suffer a mere lady-in-waiting to speak to me in such a manner."
"Some things are bigger than just one person."
"The clocks on the wall tick casually, unaware that their owner is never returning."
"You held up a mirror and reminded him that he was just as worthy of saving as the surrogates."
"I want to see the ocean. To get to the edge of this little piece of my world and climb the wall the royalty built."
"I can't go back to the Marsh like everything is the same because it's not. I'm not."
"We were wrong. You showed us what really mattered. You changed us both."
"The Great Wall looms in the distance, but it never seems to come any closer."
"There is only the rich blue of the sky, the gentle bite of the wind, and the dim roar of the ocean."
"I carry your heart with me (I carry it in my heart)."