The Burning Sky Quotes
"Fire was easy. In fact, there was nothing easier."
"That would make Iolanthe Seabourne quite the thief, gathering millions of sparks into one great combustion."
"Streams of water shot up and arced over the fireball."
"Master Haywood’s interest, however, had run far deeper."
"Iolanthe hadn’t had pinemelon ice in years, but she could still taste its tart, fresh tingle on her tongue."
"In the Old Millennia, when elemental mages decided the fate of realms, no one would have given Iolanthe’s middling powers a second glance."
"Unless you are actually performing at the Majestic Circus, think twice about exhibiting your powers."
"For running a few errands now and then, maybe. But there are far easier ways of getting chores done than raising an elemental mage for it."
"Elemental magic was elder magic, a direct, primordial connection between the mage and the universe, needing no words or procedures as intermediaries."
"Fire was such a pleasure. Power was such a pleasure."
"I did not realize," said Master Haywood. "I thought she was marrying a Greymore—from the clan of artists."
"I don’t need proof. All I need is to rescind my permission for you to go to Meadswell for the wedding."
"The laws are very clear that when a ward turns sixteen, she no longer needs her guardian’s permission for her freedom of movement."
"Then you will simply have to trust me," he said, his voice heavy. "We must keep you safe."
"The prince did not believe in happily-ever-after, but that was the password to exit the Crucible."
"Injuries sustained in the imaginary realm of the Crucible did not carry over to the real one."
"The next instant he was sliding down a smooth stone chute at a near vertical angle, the acceleration so dizzying he might as well be in free fall."
"The Inquisitor was an extractor of secrets, and he had too many of them."
"I am not exploiting you. I have saved you two times, offered you as much security as you will find anywhere on this earth, and put myself at abysmal risk."
"I came back here because you cornered me. You played fast and loose with my life."
"The only meaningful oath is one that can be enforced."
"To live like this, never knowing what it is like to be free?"
"I liked you much, much better when I didn’t know you."
"It will be you and me against the world, Fairfax."
"Nothing sounds more unsettling than truth rolling off my tongue."
"I would hold you, but I need both of my hands."
"What do you not understand? Surely you, of all people, know what a kept woman is."
"She does not cost me nearly as much as you cost Alectus."
"You extend a hand because you want something in return."
"Why am I talking to you? You will not remember anything from your time spent in bird form."
"You are almost enjoyable to talk to, when you do not say anything back."
"You know what I should be worried about? Your inability to control air."
"I should be thinking about new and better ways to break through your block."
"The blood oath bound him to do his utmost. And utmost, of course, was synonymous with suicidal."
"You are young and headstrong, Your Highness, and your demands ill-considered."
"Either we suffer for it, or our friends suffer for it."
"It concentrates the mind, knowing that time is limited."
"Love was the ultimate chain, the ultimate whip, and the ultimate slave driver."
"She would tear the Inquisitory from its foundations and crush its walls into powder."
"If you loved me, everything would be so much easier."
"I am the brains of the operation. You are only supposed to provide the muscle."
"You are still my subject, so sit down on the command of your sovereign. He will show you his domain."
"It is difficult for him, having so long held everything close to the chest, to share all his secrets and hard-won intelligence."
"He enjoyed the sight of her on the warpath, her eyes narrowed with indignation—a girl who emanated power with her very presence."
"Sometimes he was sixteen years old. And sometimes he was a thousand, as cold and proud as the dynasty that had spawned him."
"The pleasure of ordinary concerns. The resolute lack of real danger."
"You must visit someone you have no wish to visit and go somewhere you have no wish to go."
"He was no longer completely alone in the world."
"He taught her how to get in and navigate the Crucible by herself—not only the practice cantos, but also the teaching cantos, which she hadn’t even known existed."
"What do you think of our chances at this less hostile location? Next to nil."
"But she had a point—and not everything needed to wait until he was dead."
"It was much better to be an elemental mage than otherwise."
"She was a stranger to herself, a stranger with a past as barren as the desert."
"She pushed at them, willing them to stay away from her eyes."
"She was being pelted with sand. Sand was everywhere."
"In a sandstorm, it was much better to be an elemental mage than otherwise."
"Her heart somersaulted when she realized it was a wand."
"Yet there was something disconcerting about the discovery."
"Nothing. No memory of a mother’s embrace, a father’s smile, or a best friend’s secrets."
"She pressed two fingers against her breastbone. The pressure inside made it difficult to breathe."
"She opened her mouth, trying to draw in air faster, trying to fill her lungs so that they wouldn’t feel as empty as the rest of her."
"Her clothes, a knee-length blue tunic and a white undertunic, were of exceptionally fine fabric."
"She had to blink twice to make sure she was reading correctly. Wyoming Territory?"
"Instead of staring at a blank wall, she was looking at a single square inch of tantalizing color and texture."
"Without meaning to, she slashed her wand through the air, all but growling."
"The strap was broken, but the bag itself was undamaged."
"She launched herself at the bag, yanking it out of the sand."
"The bag was not terribly big—about twenty inches wide, twelve inches high, and eight inches deep."
"But it was quite remarkable in the number of pockets it had: at least twelve on the outside, and scores upon scores inside."
"Pockets on the inside were carefully and clearly labeled."
"This was not a camping bag, but an emergency tote prepared in expectation of significant, perhaps overwhelming danger."
"A map. The person who had meticulously stocked the bag must have included a map."
"And there it was, in one of the smaller exterior pockets, woven of silken threads so slender they could barely be discerned with the naked eye."
"Place the map on the ground—or in the body of water, if need be."
"Almost immediately a red dot appeared on the map, in the Sahara Desert."