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“Fear is a phoenix. You can watch it burn a thousand times and still it will return.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Crooked Kingdom

“I would have come for you. And if I couldn't walk, I'd crawl to you, and no matter how broken we were, we'd fight our way out together-knives drawn, pistols blazing. Because that's what we do. We never stop fighting.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Crooked Kingdom

“Maybe there were people who lived those lives. Maybe this girl was one of them. But what about the rest of us? What about the nobodies and the nothings, the invisible girls? We learn to hold our heads as if we wear crowns. We learn to wring magic from the ordinary. That was how you survived when you weren’t chosen, when there was no royal blood in your veins. When the world owed you nothing, you demanded something of it anyway.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Crooked Kingdom

“Crows remember human faces. They remember the people who feed them, who are kind to them. And the people who wrong them too. They don’t forget. They tell each other who to look after and who to watch out for.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Crooked Kingdom

“She smiled then, her eyes red, her cheeks scattered with some kind of dust. It was a smile he thought he might die to earn again.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Crooked Kingdom

“I don’t hold a grudge. I cradle it. I coddle it. I feed it fine cuts of meat and send it to the best schools. I nurture my grudges, Rollins.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Crooked Kingdom

“I have been made to protect you. Even in death, I will find a way.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Crooked Kingdom

“He'd told her they would fight their way out. Knives drawn, pistols blazing. Because that's what we do. She would fight for him, but she could not heal him. She would not waste her life trying.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Crooked Kingdom

“They were twin souls, soldiers destined to fight for different sides, to find each other and lose each other too quickly. She would not keep him here. Not like this.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Crooked Kingdom

“Everything is a negotiation with you, Brekker. You probably bartered your way out of the womb.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Crooked Kingdom

“Matthias was dreaming again. Dreaming of her. The storm raged around him, drowning out Nina’s voice. And yet his heart was easy. Somehow he knew that she would be safe, she would find shelter from the cold. He was on the ice once more, and somewhere he could hear the wolves howling. But this time, he knew they were welcoming him home.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Crooked Kingdom

“I promise, Matthias. I'll take you home."
"Nina," he said, pressing her hand to his heart. "I am already home.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Crooked Kingdom

“My mother is Ketterdam. She birthed me in the harbor. And my father is profit. I honor him daily.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Crooked Kingdom

“What did she say?�� asked Matthias.
Nina coughed and took his arm, leading him away. “She said you’re a very nice fellow, and a credit to the Fjerdan race. Ooh, look, blini! I haven’t had proper blini in forever.��
“That word she used: babink,�� he said. “You’ve called me that before. What does it mean?��
Nina directed her attention to a stack of paper-thin buttered pancakes. “It means sweetie pie.��
“N���Բ�—���
“B����������������.��
“I was just asking, there’s no need to name-call.��
“N��, babink means barbarian.�� Matthias�� gaze snapped back to the old woman, his glower returning to full force. Nina grabbed his arm. It was like trying to hold on to a boulder. “She wasn’t insulting you! I swear!��
“Barbarian isn’t an insult?�� he asked, voice rising.
“No. Well, yes. But not in this context. She wanted to know if you’d like to play Princess and Barbarian.��
“It’s a game?��
“Not exactly.��
“Then what is it?��
Nina couldn’t believe she was actually going to attempt to explain this. As they continued up the street, she said, “In Ravka, there’s a popular series of stories about, um, a brave Fjerdan warrior—��
“Really?�� Matthias asked. “He’s the hero?��
“In a manner of speaking. He kidnaps a Ravkan princess—��
“That would never happen.��
“In the story it does, and”—she cleared her throat—“they spend a long time getting to know each other. In his cave.��
“He lives in a cave?��
“It’s a very nice cave. Furs. Jeweled cups. Mead.��
“Ah,�� he said approvingly. “A treasure hoard like Ansgar the Mighty. They become allies, then?��
Nina picked up a pair of embroidered gloves from another stand. “Do you like these? Maybe we could get Kaz to wear something with flowers. Liven up his look.��
“How does the story end? Do they fight battles?��
Nina tossed the gloves back on the pile in defeat. “They get to know each other intimately.��
Matthias�� jaw dropped. “In the cave?��
“You see, he’s very brooding, very manly,�� Nina hurried on. “But he falls in love with the Ravkan princess and that allows her to civilize him—��
“To civilize him?��
“Yes, but that’s not until the third book.��
“There are three?��
“Matthias, do you need to sit down?��
“This culture is disgusting. The idea that a Ravkan could civilize a Fjerdan—��
“Calm down, Matthias.��
“Perhaps I’ll write a story about insatiable Ravkans who like to get drunk and take their clothes off and make unseemly advances toward hapless Fjerdans.��
“N�Ƿ� that sounds like a party.�� Matthias shook his head, but she could see a smile tugging at his lips. She decided to push the advantage. ��We could play,�� she murmured, quietly enough so that no one around them could hear.
“We most certainly could not.��
“At one point he bathes her.��
Matthias�� steps faltered. “Why would he—��
“She’s tied up, so he has to.��
“Be silent.��
“Already giving orders. That’s very barbarian of you. Or we could mix it up. I’ll be the barbarian and you can be the princess. But you’ll have to do a lot more sighing and trembling and biting your lip.��
“How about I bite your ������?��
“N�Ƿ� you’re getting the hang of it, Helvar.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Crooked Kingdom

“I am not sorry, she realized. She had chosen to live freely as a killer rather than die quietly as a slave, and she could not regret that.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Crooked Kingdom

“Kuwei turned to Jesper. “You should visit me in Ravka. We could learn to use our powers together.��
“How about I push you in the canal and we see if you know how to swim?�� Wylan said with a very passable imitation of Kaz’s glare.
Jesper shrugged. “I’ve heard he’s one of the richest men in Ketterdam. I wouldn’t cross him.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Crooked Kingdom

“Many boys will bring you flowers. But someday you'll meet a boy who will learn your favorite flower, your favorite song, your favorite sweet. And even if he is too poor to give you any of them, it won't matter because he will have taken the time to know you as no one else does. Only that boy earns your heart.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Six of Crows

“Kaz leaned back. "What's the easiest way to steal a man's wallet?"
"Knife to the throat?" asked Inej.
"Gun to the back?" said Jesper.
"Poison in his cup?" suggested Nina.
"You're all horrible," said Matthias.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Six of Crows

“She'd laughed, and if he could have bottled the sound and gotten drunk on it every night, he would have. It terrified him.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Six of Crows

“I have been made to protect you. Only in death will I be kept from this oath.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Six of Crows

“I can hear the change in Kaz's breathing when he looks at you."
"You... you can?"
"It catches every time, like he's never seen you before.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Six of Crows

“Saints, Kaz, you actually look happy."
"Don't be ridiculous," he snapped. But there was no mistaking it. Kaz Brekker was grinning like an idiot.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Six of Crows

“You love trickery."
"I love puzzles. Trickery is just my native tongue.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Six of Crows

“Brick by brick, I will destroy you.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Six of Crows

“Kaz, this whole 'shoot me' thing is starting to concern me.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Six of Crows

“Jesper: “If Pekka Rollins kills us all, I’m going to get Wylan’s ghost to teach my ghost how to play the flute just so that I can annoy the hell out of your ghost.��
Kaz: “I’ll just hire Matthias�� ghost to kick your ghost’s ass.��
Matthias: “My ghost won’t associate with your ghost.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Six of Crows

“Barrel boys don’t have parents. We’re born in the harbour and crawl out of the canals.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Six of Crows

“Wind in your hair, sea spray on your skin. The cold of the living.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Six of Crows

“I'm going to get my money, Kaz vowed, And i'm going to get my girl. Inej could never be his, not really, but he would find a way to give her the freedom he'd promised her so long ago.
Dirtyhands had come to see the rough work done.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Six of Crows

“Kaz had taught her to crack a safe, pick a pocket, wield a knife. He'd gifted her with her first blade, the one she called Sankt Petyr - not as pretty as wild geraniums, but more practical, she supposed.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Six of Crows