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“Cardan gazes at a rosebush with petals so black and glossy they look like patent leather. ¨It was terrifying,¨ he says, ¨watching you fall. I mean, you´re generally terrifying, but I am unused to fearing for you. And then I was furious. I am not sure I have ever been that angry before.¨ ¨Mortals are fragile,¨ I say. ¨Not you,¨ he says in a way that sounds a little like a lament. ¨You never break.¨
Page 159”
― Holly Black, The Queen of Nothing

“¨Clap her in chains,¨ Says Randalin. I feel a guards hand close on my arm. Then Cardans voice comes. ¨Do not touch her. She is my wife,¨ Cardan says, his voice carrying over the crowd. ¨The rightful High Queen of Elfhame. And most definitely not in exile.¨
Page 147”
― Holly Black, The Queen of Nothing

“I turn away from him and walk, swiftly and completely directionless through the garden. He runs after me, grabbing my arm. I haul around and slap him. Its a stinging blow, smearing the gold on his cheekbone and causing his skin to redden. We stare at each other for long moments, breathing hard. His eyes are bright with something entirely different from anger. I am in over my head. I am drowning. ¨I didnt mean to hurt you.¨ He grabs my hand,possibly to keep me from hitting him again. Our fingers lace together. ¨No, it not that, not exactly. I didnt think I could hurt you. And i never thought you would be afraid of me.¨ ¨And did you like it?¨"I ask. He looks away from me then, and I have my answer. Maybe he doesnt want to admit to that impulse, but he has it. ¨Well, I was hurt, and yes, you scare me.¨ Even as I am speaking, I wish I could snatch back the words. Perhaps it is exhaustion or having been so close to death, but the truth pours out of me in a devastating rush. ¨You´ve always scared me. You gave me every reason to fear your capriciousness and your cruelty. I was afraid of you even when you were tied to that chair in the court of shadows. I was afraid of you when i had a knife to your throat. And i am scared of you now.¨ Cardan looks more suprised then he did when I slapped him. He was always a symbol of everything about Elfhame that I couldnt have, everything that would never want me. And telling him this feels a little like throwing off a heavy weight, except that weight is supposed to be my armor, and without it, I am afraid I am going to be entirely exposed. But i keep talking anyway, as though I no longer have control of my tongue. ¨You despised me. When you said you wanted me, it felt like the world has turned upside down.
Page 160-161”
― Holly Black, The Queen of Nothing

“¨But i am going to take out her stitches, and I dont think youd want to watch that.¨ ¨Oh I dont know,¨ I say. ¨Maybe he´d like to hear me scream.¨ ¨I would,¨ Cardan says, standing. ¨And perhaps one day I will.¨ On his way out, his hand goes to my hair. A light touch, barely there, and then gone.
Page 166”
― Holly Black, The Queen of Nothing

“He closes his eyes. When he opens them, he releases my hand and turns so I cant see his face. ¨I can see why you thought what you did. I suppose I am not an easy person to trust. And maybe I ought not to be trusted, but let me say this: i trust you.¨
Page 162”
― Holly Black, The Queen of Nothing

“¨Yes, my sweet villain, my darling god. I will be as sober as a stone carving, just as soon as I can.¨ And with that, he kisses me on the mouth. I feel a cacophony of things at once.
Page 284”
― Holly Black, The Wicked King

“¨Tell me again what you said at the revel,¨ he says, climbing over me,his body against mine. ¨What?¨ I can barely think. ¨That you hate me,¨ he says, his voice hoarse.¨Tell me that you hate me.¨ ¨I hate you,¨ I say, the words coming out like a caress. I say it again, over and over. A litany. An enchantment. A ward against what i really feel. ¨I hate you. I hate you. I hate you.¨He kisses me harder. ¨I hate you,¨ I breathe into his mouth. ¨I hate you so much that sometimes I cant think of anything else.¨ At that, he makes a harsh, low sound. One of his hands slides over my stomach, tracing the shape of my skin. He kisses me again, and its like falling off a cliff. Like a mountain slide, building momentum with ever touch, until there is only crashing destruction ahead. I have never felt anything like this. He begins to unbutton my doublet, and i try not to freeze, try not to show my inexperience. I dont want him to stop.
page 144-145”
― Holly Black, The Wicked King

“I hope Cardan misses me.
page 225”
― Holly Black, The Wicked King

“¨Hear my judgment,¨ Cardan says, authority ringing in his voice. ¨I exile Jude Duarte to the mortal world. Until and unless she is pardoned by the crown, let her not step one foot in Faerie or forfeit her life.¨ I gasp. ¨But you cant do that!¨ He looks at me for a long moment, but his gaze is mild, as though hes expecting me to be fine with exile. As though I am nothing more than one of his petitioners. As though i am nothing at all. ¨Of course I can,¨ he replies. ¨But im the Queen of Faerie,¨ I shout, and for a moment, there is silence. Then everyone around me begins to laugh. I can feel my cheeks heat. Tears of frustration and fury prick my eyes as, a beat too late, Cardan laughs with them. At that moment, knights clap their hands on my wrists, Sir Rannoch pulls me down from the horse. For a mad moment i consider fighting him as though two dozen knights arent around us. ¨Deny it, then,¨ I yell. ¨Deny me!¨ He cannot, of course, so he does not.
Page 316-317”
― Holly Black, The Wicked King

“Jude, you cant really think I dont know its you. I knew it was you from the moment you stepped into the brugh.
Page 69”
― Holly Black, The Queen of Nothing

“Let Cardan not be shot. Let the Ghost be clumsy.
Let me get inside easily. Let me stop him.
I do not pause to ask myself to ask why I am in such a panic to save someone for whom I swore I rooted out every feeling. I will not think about that.
Page 141”
― Holly Black, The Queen of Nothing

“That´s one reason I didnt want to believe you´d joined up with Madoc. The other is that i want you here by my side, as my queen.
Page 163”
― Holly Black, The Queen of Nothing

“¨Jude Duarte, you will leave the High Kings side,¨ Balekin says. At that tone, Cardan´s focus narrows. ¨She will not,¨ he says.
Page 287”
― Holly Black, The Wicked King

“He reaches up and presses my hand to his face. ¨Its funny, isnt it, how i mocked you for your mortality when you´re certain to outlive me.¨ ¨You´re not going to die,¨ I insist.
Page 289”
― Holly Black, The Wicked King

“She didnt have to command me, Jude. She didnt have to use any magic. I trust you. I trusted you.
Page 300”
― Holly Black, The Wicked King

“I cannot lie. I cannot deny you.
Page 305”
― Holly Black, The Wicked King

“I imagine what it would be like to have my own crown, my own power. Maybe I wouldnt have to be afraid to love him.
Page 305”
― Holly Black, The Wicked King

“My palm is smeared with gold. When I look at him, I see the remaining powder has been smudged over his cheekbones by the strike of my hand. I cant stop staring at it, cant stop thinking about the way he looked at me when he caught my fingers. That´s the only excuse I have for not noticing that hes led me back to his rooms, which are, I suppose, also mine since we´re married.
Page 163”
― Holly Black, The Queen of Nothing

“¨Jude,¨ he´d said, running a hand up my calf, ¨are you afraid of me?¨
page 207”
― Holly Black, The Wicked King

“¨I will lie down,¨ he says, letting me guide him toward his enormous bed. Once there, he does not let go of my hand. ¨Ïf you lie with me.¨
Page 308”
― Holly Black, The Wicked King

“I hate seeing him with Nicasia. I hate the thought of his touching her. I hate that this is my plan, that I have no one to be angry with but myself. I am an idiot.
Page 173”
― Holly Black, The Wicked King

“I wasnt kind, Jude. Not to many people. Not to you. I wasnt sure if I wanted you or if I wanted you gone from my sight so that i would stop feeling as I did, which made me even more unkind. But when you were gone---truly gone beneath the waves---I hated myself as i never have before.”
― Holly Black, The Wicked King

“He takes a step toward me. ¨The other night---¨"I cut him off.¨I did it for the same reason that you did. To get it out of my system.¨ ¨And is it?¨ he asks. ¨Out of you system?¨ I look him in the face and lie. ¨Yes.¨
Page 181”
― Holly Black, The Wicked King

“My hands are shaking. he captures them and kisses my knuckles with a kind of reverence. ¨I want to tell you so many lies,¨ he says. I shudder, and my heart hammers as his hands skim over my skin,one sliding between my thighs. I mirror him, fumbling with the buttons of his breeches. He helps me push them down, his tail curling against his leg then twisting to coil against mine, soft as a whisper. I reach over to slide my hand over the flat plane of his stomach. I dont let myself hesitate, but my inexperince is obvious. His skin is hot under my palm, against my calluses. His fingers are too clever by half. I feel as though i am drowning in sensation. His eyes are open, watching my flushed face, my ragged breathing. I try to stop myself from making embarassing noises. Its more intimate than the way hes touching me, to be looked at like that. I hate that he knows what hes doing and i dont. I hate being vulnerable. I hate that I throw my head back, barring my throat. I hate the way i cling to him, the nails of one hand digging into his back, my thoughts splintering, and the single last thing in my head: that i like him better than ive ever liked anyone and that of all the things hes ever done to me, making me like him so much is by far the worst.
pages 145-146”
― Holly Black, The Wicked King

“The very thought of being there, of seeing Cardan, speeds my heart.
Page 39”
― Holly Black, The Queen of Nothing

“¨You come from nothing, and it is to nothing you will return,¨ he whispers against my neck.
( judes dream )
Page 48”
― Holly Black, The Queen of Nothing

“High King Cardans presence seems to infect the very air I breathe. For a wild moment, I consider turning and getting out of there before he spots me. I dont know if I can do this. I feel a little dizzy. I dont know if I can look at him and not show on my face any of what I am feeling.
Page 60”
― Holly Black, The Queen of Nothing

“¨Love is stupid. All we do is break one another´s hearts.¨ ¨Yeah,¨ I say, thinking again of Cardan.
page 31-32”
― Holly Black, The Queen of Nothing

“That boy is your weakness.
Page 128”
― Holly Black, The Queen of Nothing

“But when I think of the night he was shot at, the night he did coin tricks, I cant help recalling him gazing up from my bed, intoxicated and disturbingly intoxicating.
Page 157”
― Holly Black, The Wicked King