欧宝娱乐

“There are two kinds of guilt. The kind that's a burden and the kind that gives you purpose. Let your guilt be your fuel. Let it remind you of who you want to be. Draw a line in your mind. Never cross it again. You have a soul. It's damaged but it's there. Don't let them take it from you.”
― Sabaa Tahir, An Ember in the Ashes

“As long as there is life, there is hope.”
― Sabaa Tahir, An Ember in the Ashes

“Laia and Helene: They鈥檙e so different. I like that Laia says things I don鈥檛 expect, that she speaks almost formally, as if she鈥檚 telling a story. I like that she defied my mother to go to the Moon Festival, whereas Helene always obeys the Commandant. Laia is the wild dance of a Tribal campfire, while Helene is the cold blue of an alchemist鈥檚 flame.

But why am I even comparing them? I鈥檝e know Laia a few days and Helene all my life. Helene鈥檚 no passing attraction. She鈥檚 family. More than that. She鈥檚 part of me.”
― Sabaa Tahir, An Ember in the Ashes

“You鈥攜ou were like me. You were a child. A normal child. And that was taken from you.鈥�

鈥淒oes that bother you?鈥�

鈥淲ell, it certainly makes you harder to hate.”
― Sabaa Tahir, An Ember in the Ashes

“She chuckles again. 鈥淏ecause sane plans never work, girl,鈥� she says. 鈥淥nly the mad ones do.”
― Sabaa Tahir, A Torch Against the Night

“Fight back, Laia. For Darin. For Izzi. For every Scholar this beast has abused. Fight. A scream bursts from me, and I claw at Marcus鈥檚 face, but a punch to my stomach takes the wind out of my lungs. I double over, retching, and his knee comer up into my forehead. The hallway spins, and I drop to my knees. Then I hear him laughting, a sadistic chuckle that stokes my defiance.

Sluggishly, I throw myself at his legs. It won鈥檛 be like before, like during the raid when I let that Mask drag me about my own house like some dead thing.

This time, I鈥檒l fight. Tooth and nail, I鈥檒l fight.”
― Sabaa Tahir, An Ember in the Ashes

“Thank you, Soul Catcher.鈥�
鈥淓lias,鈥� he says after a moment, the slightest bit of warmth entering those cold gray eyes. 鈥淔rom you I prefer Elias.”
― Sabaa Tahir, A 鈥婼ky Beyond the Storm

“The tapping grows insistent, and I turn, intending to tell off the Cadet. Instead, I'm faced with a slave-girl looking up at me through impossibly long eyelashes. A heated, visceral shock flares through me at the clarity of her dark gold eyes. For a second, I forget my name.
I've never seen her before, because if I had, I'd remember. Despite the heavy silver cuffs and high, painful-looking bun that mark all of Blackcliff's drudges, nothing about her says slave. Her black dress fits her like a glove, sliding over every curve in a way that makes more than one head turn. Her full lips and fine, straight nose would be the envy of most girls, Scholar or not. I stare at her, realize I'm staring, tell myself to stop staring, and then keep staring. My breath falters, and my body, traitor that is, tugs me forward until there are only inches between us.

鈥淎sp-aspirant Veturius.鈥�

It's the way she says my name鈥攍ike it's something to fear鈥攖hat brings me back to myself. Pull it together, Veturius. I step away, appalled at myself when I see the terror in her eyes.

鈥淲hat is it?鈥� I ask calmly.”
― Sabaa Tahir, An Ember in the Ashes

“I have survived this feeling before, and I will survive it again. In this fiery hellscape of a world, this mess of blood and madness, justice exists only for those who take it. I'll be damned if I'm not one of them.”
― Sabaa Tahir, A Reaper at the Gates

“Are the Trials starting?鈥� The girl claps her hands over her mouth. 鈥淚'm sorry,鈥� she whispers. 鈥淚鈥斺€�

鈥淚t's all right.鈥� I don't smile at her. It will only scare her. For a female slave, a smile from a Mask is not usually a good thing. 鈥淚'm actually wondering the same thing. What's your name?鈥�

鈥淪-slave-Girl.鈥� Of course. My mother would already have scourged her name out of existence.

鈥淩ight. You work for the Commandant?鈥� I want her to say no. I want her to say that my mother roped her into this. I want her to say she's assigned to the kitchens or infirmary, where slaves aren't scarred or missing body parts.

But the girl nods in response to my question. Don't let my mother break you, I think. The girl meets my eyes, and there is that feeling again, low and hot and consuming. Don't be weak. Fight. Escape.

A gust of wind whips a strand free from her bun and across her cheekbone. Defiance flashes across her face as she holds my gaze, and for a second, I see my own desire for freedom mirrored, intensified in her eyes. It's something I've never detected in the eyes of a fellow student, let alone a Scholar slave. For one strange moment, I feel less alone.

But then she looks down, and I wonder at my own naivet茅. She can't fight. She can't scape. Not from Blackcliff. I smile joylessly; in this, at least, the slave and I are more similar than she'll ever know.”
― Sabaa Tahir, An Ember in the Ashes

“You鈥檙e sure this is what you want?鈥� I search her eyes for doubt, fear, uncertainty, but all I see is that fire. Ten hells
鈥淚鈥檓 sure鈥�
鈥淭hen I鈥檒l find a way”
― Sabaa Tahir, A Torch Against the Night

“Si tienes amor, no necesitas nada m谩s; y si no lo tienes, no importa demasiado qu茅 m谩s tengas”
― Laia Soler, Los d铆as que nos separan

“After I pull my eyes away from her, I realize that I'm not the only one dumbstruck. Many of the young men around me sneak glances at her. She doesn't seem to notice, which, of course, makes her all the more intriguing.”
― Sabaa Tahir, An Ember in the Ashes

“I have defied him and survived him again and again. He has tried to hurt me. But I will not allow myself to be hurt. He has tried to break me but I will not be dictated to by a man so afraid to fight the jinn that he must criticise a woman to make himself feel bigger.”
― Sabaa Tahir, A 鈥婼ky Beyond the Storm

“When did you start here?鈥� I ask her.

鈥淭hree days ago. Sir. Aspirant. Um鈥斺€� She wrings her hands.

鈥淰eturius is fine.鈥�

She walks carefully, gingerly鈥攖he Commandant must have whipped her recently. And yet she doesn't hunch or shuffle like the others slaves. The straight-backed grace with which she moves tells her story better than words. She'd been a freewoman before this鈥擨'd bet my scims on it. And she has no idea how pretty she is鈥攐r what kind of problems her beauty will cause for her at a place like Blackcliff. The wind pulls at her hair again, and I catch her scent鈥攍ike fruit and sugar.

鈥淐an I give you some advice?鈥�

Her head flies up like a scared animal's. At least she's wary. 鈥淩ight now you...鈥� Will grab the attention of every male in a square mile. 鈥淪tand out,鈥� I finish. 鈥淚t's hot, but you should wear a hood or a cloak鈥攕omething to help you blend in.鈥�

She nods, but her eyes are suspicious. She wraps her arms around herself and drops back a little. I don't speak to her again.”
― Sabaa Tahir, An Ember in the Ashes

“I don鈥檛 look at the wound. I don鈥檛 need to. I watched the Commandant as she carved it into me, a thick-lined, precise K stretching from my collarbone to the skin over my heart. She branded me. Marked me as her property. It鈥檚 a scar I鈥檒l carry to the grave.”
― Sabaa Tahir, An Ember in the Ashes

“Where there is life, Nan used to say, there is hope.”
― Sabaa Tahir, An Ember in the Ashes

“I don't smile at her. It will only scare her. For a female slave, a smile from a Mask is not usually a good thing.”
― Sabaa Tahir, An Ember in the Ashes

“There will be so much more in between. So much uncertainty. I don't know if we'll survive the catacombs, let alone the rest of it. But it doesn't matter. For now, these steps are enough. These first few precious steps into darkness. Into the unknown. Into freedom.”
― Sabaa Tahir, An Ember in the Ashes

“A veces,escapar de lo desconocido es el camino m谩s f谩cil, aunque termine siendo el m谩s largo y sinuoso.”
― Laia Soler, Los d铆as que nos separan

“I turn to look into my brother's eyes. For a long moment, all we can do is take in each other's faces.
"Look at you, little sister, " Darin finally whispers. His smile is the sun rising after the longest, darkest night. "Look at you.”
― Sabaa Tahir, A Torch Against the Night

“Cook鈥檚 voice is nothing like a Tribal Kehanni鈥檚: It is stern where a tale-spinner鈥檚 would be gentle, all edges where a tale-spinner鈥檚 would be mellow and curved.”
― Sabaa Tahir, An Ember in the Ashes

“Tell us a story. Something scary.鈥� She shivers in anticipation, and Cook makes a strange sound that could be a laugh or a groan. 鈥淟ife isn鈥檛 scary enough for you, girl?”
― Sabaa Tahir, An Ember in the Ashes