欧宝娱乐

“If you're not free to love, your're not free at all.”
― Jessica Khoury, The Forbidden Wish

“Because happiness itself is a mythical construct, a dream you humans tell yourselves to get through each day. It is the moon, and you, like the sun, pursue it relentlessly, chasing it around and around, getting nowhere.”
― Jessica Khoury, The Forbidden Wish

“Even a thief may have honor, and even a jinni may have a heart.”
― Jessica Khoury, The Forbidden Wish

“The universe sings a deep, eternal song, sound in waves, in deep sighs, in whispers, in swirling chords and rising, falling tones. The music of the worlds, weaving in a pattern that is both chaos and order, both beauty and terror, without beginning, without end.”
― Jessica Khoury, The Forbidden Wish

“Get control of yourself, Zahra!
My name isn鈥檛 Zahra. I am Smoke-on-the-Wind, Curl-of-the-Tiger鈥檚-Tail, Girl-Who-Gives-the-Stars-Away.
He loves you!
He is just a mortal. Just a boy, a moment in time that will soon pass.
His name is Aladdin.
I have known a thousand and one like him. I will know a thousand and one more. He is nothing.
He is everything. ”
― Jessica Khoury, The Forbidden Wish

“This has been the great lesson of my long life: To love is to destroy.”
― Jessica Khoury, The Forbidden Wish

“Love is a path lined with roses." I say bitterly. "But it leads to a cliff's edge and all who follow it tumble to their doom. You will not find your happiness there.”
― Jessica Khoury, The Forbidden Wish

“We need to push each other out of our comfort zones. Because if you鈥檙e not afraid, then you are not growing”
― Lauren Asher, The Fine Print

“You鈥檙e beautiful and wild and kind, and I can鈥檛 stop thinking about you.鈥� A sunny, foolish smile breaks across his face. 鈥淚t鈥檚 wrong and stupid and wonderful, Zahra. I didn鈥檛 mean for it to happen, but here I am. I love you.”
― Jessica Khoury, The Forbidden Wish

“I鈥檓 sorry,鈥� I whisper.
He takes my face in his hands. 鈥淚鈥檓 not. I鈥檓 not sorry I met you. I鈥檓 not sorry I fell in love with you. I have no regrets, Zahra, and neither should you. I love you.”
― Jessica Khoury, The Forbidden Wish

“Seriously? she hisses. You're literally putting your dick in the leader of a foreign state, who is a man, at the biggest political event before the election, in a hotel full of reporters, in a city full of cameras, in a race close enough to fucking hinge on some bullshit like this, like a manifestation of my fucking stress dreams, and you're asking me not to tell the president about it?”
― Casey McQuiston, Red, White & Royal Blue

“I do, and the now-familiar warmth of his lips steadies me. He tastes of salt and the wine we shared with the others at our small farewell party.
Aladdin pulls away first and lifts one of my hands to his lips, kissing the delicate henna patterns on my skin, then turning my arm over to kiss the inside of my wrist. The ship鈥檚 crew makes themselves busy on the other side of the ship, giving us privacy.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e the most beautiful girl in the world,鈥� Aladdin murmurs. 鈥淗ave I ever told you that?鈥�
鈥淓nough to make me wonder if your father was a parrot.”
― Jessica Khoury, The Forbidden Wish

“Her entire face lights up like a solar flare. She shines so brightly that everything else pales in comparison. I feel helplessly trapped in her magnetic field, so close to the sun I might burst into flames.”
― Lauren Asher, The Fine Print

“Use your wish,鈥� I whisper to Aladdin, opening my eyes. 鈥淧lease.鈥�
鈥淚f I do,鈥� he replies softly, 鈥淚鈥檒l lose you.”
― Jessica Khoury, The Forbidden Wish

“My lady,鈥� says Aladdin, extending an arm toward the sun, 鈥淚 give you gold as a token of my love.鈥�
鈥淎ll I want is you,鈥� I reply. I turn and kiss him, pulling him against me, feeling the warmth of the dawn in my hair. Then I rest my head on his shoulder, simply feeling his arms around me, his heart beating against me.
鈥淎re you cold?鈥� asks Aladdin. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e shivering.鈥�
鈥淎 little.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檒l go get a blanket. And breakfast. If I can find the kitchen.鈥�
鈥淕alley, love. It鈥檚 called a galley.鈥�
鈥淩ight. Galley. Got it. I鈥檒l ask the captain. What was his name?鈥�
鈥淪inbad, I think?鈥�
鈥淚鈥檒l be right back.鈥�
But I catch his hand. 鈥淚鈥檓 all right. Don鈥檛 go yet.鈥�
He stays with me, and together we watch the sun stain the sea and sky a thousand and one shades of gold. My thumb rubs the ring on my finger, its dents and contours as familiar to me now as my hand.
So this is what it feels like to have all your wishes come true.”
― Jessica Khoury, The Forbidden Wish

“Tell me about your master.鈥�
I nod. 鈥淗e is eighth in line to the throne, the son of鈥斺€�
鈥淣o, no,鈥� Caspida interrupts irritably. 鈥淭ell me what he is like.鈥�
鈥淗e is a gambler,鈥� I say. There is no point in lying about these things. 鈥淗e is bold, but reckless. Brave, but impetuous. A man who . . . holds grudges.鈥� Pausing, I finish in a whisper, 鈥淗e would risk his life to save someone else, without even thinking twice.鈥�
Caspida turns her head a bit, interest growing in her eyes. 鈥淎nd he sets out on a mad voyage and sails straight into a nest of jinn.鈥�
鈥淢y master is noble,鈥� I say with a smile, 鈥渂ut I made no suggestions as to his intelligence.”
― Jessica Khoury, The Forbidden Wish

“Declan shows off the small smile he saves for us.”
― Lauren Asher, The Fine Print

“He is the Devil. Zahra. Well, that explains why Eve fell for his tricks”
― Lauren Asher, The Fine Print

“Why do you care what happens to her? I thought we humans were vapors to you, here today and gone tomorrow.鈥�
鈥淐aspida is . . . different. She reminds me of someone, someone I鈥檇 give my life for if I could.鈥�
鈥淭he queen?鈥� he asks. 鈥淭he one who died?鈥�
鈥淩oshana. My dear Ro.鈥� My voice is soft as a ripple on the water. 鈥淪he once ruled the Amulens, and Caspida is her descendant. She has Roshana鈥檚 strength of spirit, and I cannot look at her without thinking of my old friend. If she were to come to harm on my account . . . I could not bear that through the centuries.鈥� I already carry a mountain of shame, a constant reminder of that day on Mount Tissia.
Aladdin lifts a hand and brushes the hair back from my face. 鈥淵ou truly are remarkable, Zahra of the Lamp.”
― Jessica Khoury, The Forbidden Wish

“You understand why you must go through with this marriage.鈥�
鈥淵ou say you couldn鈥檛 live with yourself if anything happened to Caspida. Yet you ask me to live with myself, knowing I sentenced you to this!鈥� He holds up the lamp. 鈥淲hat鈥檚 the difference?鈥�
I look away angrily. 鈥淭he difference is that this is my choice, Aladdin.鈥�
鈥淲ell, it鈥檚 a stupid choice!鈥�
I stand up. 鈥淧romise me you鈥檒l go through with it.鈥�
He shuts his eyes.
鈥淧romise me! Please!鈥�
He opens his eyes then, and they are filled with pain. But he nods.
鈥淚 have to hear you say it.鈥�
鈥淚 promise.”
― Jessica Khoury, The Forbidden Wish

“Princess Caspida, I have nothing but respect and admiration for you. Truly you will be the queen this city needs. But I can鈥檛 marry you.鈥�
The princess stands still as stone, her face unreadable. 鈥淲hy not, Prince Rahzad?鈥�
鈥淚 am sorry,鈥� he replies. 鈥淭he truth is, I am in love, but not with you.鈥�
He turns to me, and my spirit takes flight like a flock of doves, startled and erratic. I cannot move, cannot speak, as he takes my hands in his and looks me earnestly in the eye. He presses the ring into my palm, and the gold feels as if it burns my skin.
鈥淭his belongs to you, and you alone. I鈥檝e been so blind, Zahra. So caught up in the past that I鈥檝e failed to see what鈥檚 happening in front of me. I鈥檝e been such an idiot, I don鈥檛 know how I can expect anything from you. But I have to try. I have to tell the truth, and the truth is . . . I love you.”
― Jessica Khoury, The Forbidden Wish

“Goodbye, Zahra,鈥� says the princess, and she pulls her arm back, preparing to throw the lamp.
鈥淒o it, Princess,鈥� says a voice, 鈥渁nd I will tear your head from your shoulders.”
― Jessica Khoury, The Forbidden Wish

“This is Roshana, the last queen of the Amulen Empire, back when my people ruled all the lands from the east to the west. She is something of a legend among us. Every queen aspires to learn from her mistakes.鈥�
鈥淗er mistakes? Surely you mean her victories.鈥�
鈥淲丑补迟?鈥�
I frown at her. 鈥淩oshana was one of the greatest queens in the world. She ended the Mountain Wars, she routed Sanhezriyah the Mad, she鈥斺€�
鈥淔or a foreign serving girl, you are strangely well versed in Amulen history.鈥�
鈥淚 spent a lot of time in libraries as a girl.鈥�
鈥淲ere you there to dust the scrolls or read them?鈥�
鈥淪urely Roshana鈥檚 victories outweigh her errors.鈥�
鈥淭he higher you rise, the farther you fall. For all her wisdom, Roshana was fooled by the jinni, believing it was her friend, and then it destroyed her. Ever since that day, my people have hunted the jinn. There is no creature more vicious and untrustworthy.鈥�
鈥淭his is not the story I heard,鈥� I say softly. 鈥淢y people tell it differently. That the jinni truly was a friend to Roshana but was forced to turn against her. That she had no choice.鈥�
鈥淪urely I know how my own ancestress died,鈥� returns the princess, a bit hotly. 鈥淎nyway, it was a long time ago, but we Amulens do not forget.”
― Jessica Khoury, The Forbidden Wish

“We don鈥檛 seek to make the world better.
We seek t make it ours.”
― Lauren Asher, The Fine Print

“For five hundred years my sisterhood has passed down a sacred vow,鈥� says Caspida coldly, 鈥渢o destroy the one who destroyed our queen. You know this, and you speak these words only to deceive me as you deceived her. You would have me believe that you are capable of love.鈥�
鈥淏elieve me when I say I wish that I were not!鈥� Angrily I round on her. 鈥淚 do not tell you this for myself! Aladdin will die any moment, and the only way to save him is if you make a wish! Please, Caspida鈥攖hey will kill him at dawn!鈥� I point at the horizon, where the sun is minutes away from rising. 鈥淟et me save him, I beg you!鈥�
I drop to my knees before her, doing what I never thought I could: grovel before a human. My pride unravels into smoke, carried away on the wind. Always I have thought myself above these mortals鈥擨, immortal, powerful, able to shift from this form to that. But I let all of that go now, and I beg as I have never begged before. 鈥淒o what you like with me after that, but just let me save him!鈥� I dig my fingers into the earth, my eyes damp with tears. My voice falls to a cracked whisper. 鈥淧lease.鈥�
鈥淲丑测?鈥�
I raise my face, finding her gaze unyielding. 鈥淏ecause it was my idea. Him wishing to be made a prince. Courting you. Lying all these weeks. I manipulated him and used him, and now they will kill him for it.鈥�
鈥淲hy would you lead him into the palace knowing that eventually the truth would come out and he would have to pay the price?鈥�
鈥淏ecause . . .鈥� I grind my teeth together, wishing the earth would swallow me up. 鈥淏ecause I was trying to win my freedom. Your people had captured the prince of the jinn鈥擭ardukha鈥檚 own son. The Shaitan sent me to free him, and in turn, he would free me from my lamp. If I failed, he planned to sink your city into the sea. I had to get into the palace. Aladdin was my only way in.鈥�
鈥淪o you don鈥檛 deny that you鈥檙e a monster. You used him for your own ends.鈥�
I drop my head. 鈥淚 know what I am. I know nothing can excuse what I did to Roshana, or to Aladdin, or to you. I鈥檝e wronged so many, and there is so much I wish I could take back. I can鈥檛 save Roshana. But please鈥擨 beg of you鈥攍et me save him.鈥�
Caspida lowers to her knees and studies me. I meet her gaze, humbled utterly.
鈥淵ou want me to believe that you love him,鈥� she whispers.
鈥淵es.鈥� The word is but a breath, a stir of air in my treacherous lungs. 鈥淲e鈥檙e running out of time. I cannot reverse death or the hours. Time is the strongest magic, and no jinni鈥攏ot even the Shaitan鈥攃an rewrite the past. Once Aladdin is gone, he is gone. Let me save him, and I can help you win your city.”
― Jessica Khoury, The Forbidden Wish

“ At last, when the dust settled, the Queen and the Jinni stood on the mountaintop and looked down on the battlefield and the bodies spread like leaves across the desert. The Queen fell to her knees, wearied and wounded, and her sword dropped from her hand. Before her, the doorway to Ambadya burned with fires of every color.
鈥淎ll I wanted,鈥� said the Queen, 鈥渨as peace between our peoples. But I see now that this is not possible, for my people are ruled by a dreamer, and the jinn are ruled by a monster. My only consolation is that thou art by my side, my Jinni. I would die in the company of a friend, and give thee my final breath. For I have one wish remaining, and it is for thy freedom, yea, even at the cost of mine own life.鈥�
At this the Jinni shook her head, replying, 鈥淣ay, my queen. The time for wishing is passed. For here is the Shaitan, Lord of all Jinn and King of Ambadya.鈥�
And even as she spoke, the fires in the doorway rose higher, and through them stepped Nardukha the Shaitan, terrible to behold.
鈥淥 impudent woman,鈥� said the Shaitan, looking down at the Queen. 鈥淲ouldst thou dare make the Forbidden Wish?鈥�
鈥淚 would,鈥� she replied. 鈥淔or I fear thee not.鈥�
鈥淭hen thou art a fool.鈥�
As the Queen鈥檚 heart turned to ashes, realizing her doom was upon her, the Shaitan turned to the Jinni and said, 鈥淒ost thou recall the first rule of thy kinsmen, Jinni?鈥�
And the Jinni replied, 鈥淟ove no human.鈥�
鈥淎nd hast thou kept this commandment?鈥�
鈥淟ord, I have.鈥� And up she rose, as the Queen cried out in dismay.
鈥淎re not we like sisters?鈥� asked the Queen. 鈥淥f one heart and one spirit?鈥�
And the Jinni replied, 鈥淣ay, for I am a creature of Ambadya, and thus is my nature deceitful and treacherous. My Lord has come at last, and I would do all that he commands.鈥�
The Shaitan, looking on with approval, said to the Jinni, 鈥淭his human girl is proud and foolish, thinking she could rule both men and jinn. I am well pleased with thee, my servant, who hast brought her to me. Slay the queen and prove thy loyalty to thy king.鈥�
And the Jinni grinned, and in her eyes rose a fire. 鈥淲ith pleasure, my Lord.鈥�
Then, with a wicked laugh, she struck down the good and noble Queen, the mightiest and wisest of all the Amulen monarchs, whose only mistake was that she had dared to love a Jinni. ”
― Jessica Khoury, The Forbidden Wish

“Deja de pensar como una princesa y s茅 una reina.”
― Jessica Khoury, The Forbidden Wish

“Zahara鈥檚 my opposite in every way that counts. I can鈥檛 compare to a woman who can light up a room with her smile alone. She鈥檚 like the sun, with everyone orbiting around her to bask in her warmth.. Unlike me, who keeps people away from me with nothing but a scowl.”
― Lauren Asher, The Fine Print

“You think you鈥檙e home free, little rebel. Off to warn your friends. You think you鈥檙e safe. You鈥檙e not.”
― Charles Soule, Star Wars, Vol. 1: The Destiny Path

“This vessel is a memorial to the great tragedy of the Death Star. And an instrument of vengeance for everyone who died on it.”
― Charles Soule, Star Wars, Vol. 1: The Destiny Path