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How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories

Book by Holly Black · 13 quotes · Cardan Greenbriar, Holly Black, The Folk Of The Air

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How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories Quotes

“Many times in his first nine years, Prince Cardan slept in the hay of the stables when his mother didn't want him in their suite of rooms. It was warm there, and he could pretend he was hiding, could pretend that someone was looking for him. Could pretend that when he was not found, it was only because the spot he'd chosen was so extremely clever.”

“He cuts his gaze toward his unpredictable mortal High Queen, whose wild brown hair is blowing around her face, whose amber eyes are alight when she looks at him. They are two people who ought to have, by all rights, remained enemies forever. He can't believe his good fortune, can't trace the path that got him here.”

“This?' he demands, looking down at the waves far beneath them. 'This is how you travelled? What if the enchantment ended while Vivi wasn't with you?' 'I suppose I would have plummeted out of the air,' Jude tells him with troubling equanimity, her expression saying, Horrible risks are entirely normal to me. Cardan has to admit that the ragwort steeds are swift and that there is something thrilling about tangling his hand in a leafy mane and racing across the sky. It's not as though he doesn't enjoy a little danger, just that he doesn't gorge himself on it, unlike some people.”

“One of his primary duties as the High King appears to be reminding her she isn't personally responsible for solving every tedious problem and carrying out every tedious execution in all of Elfhame. He wouldn't mind causing a little torment here or there, of a non-murdery sort, but her view of their positions seems overburdened with chores.”

“If you must fight this thing, there's no reason to go alone. You could take a battalion of knights or, failing that, me.' 'You think you're the equal of a battalion of knights?' she asks with a smile. He might be, he supposes, although there's no telling how the mortal world will affect his magic. He did once raise an isle from the bottom of the sea. He wonders if he ought to remind her of that, wonders if she had been impressed. 'I believe that I could easily best all of them combined, in a suitable contest. Perhaps one involving drink.' She kicks her ragwort steed forward with a laugh.”

“La cabeza de Nicasia descansaba sobre el pecho desnudo de Locke. El pelo rojo del zorro se le pegaba a la mejilla por el sudor. Mientras Cardan los miraba, una ráfaga de sangre le calentó las mejillas y los latidos en su cabeza se hicieron tan fuertes que momentáneamente ahogó sus pensamientos. Miró sus cuerpos enredados, las brasas incandescentes de la chimenea, el trabajo a medio terminar para los tutores de palacio que todavía estaba en su escritorio, manchas descuidadas de tinta salpicando el papel. Cardan debería haber sido el chico con el corazón de piedra en la historia de Aslog, pero de alguna manera había dejado que su corazón se volviera de cristal. Podía sentir los fragmentos rotos alojados en sus pulmones, haciendo que cada respiración le doliera. Cardan había confiado en que Nicasia no lo lastimaría, lo cual era ridículo, ya que sabía bien que todos se lastiman entre sí y que las personas que amabas te lastiman más gravemente. Ya que era muy consciente de que ambos se deleitaban en hacer daño a todos los demás que podían, ¿cómo podía haberse considerado seguro?”

“It turned out that Cardan didn't have a heart of stone after all. As he removed his shirt and sank to his knees, as he fisted his hands and tried not to cry out when the strap fell, he burned with hatred. Hatred for Dain; for his father; for all his siblings who didn't take him on and the one who did; for his mother, who spat at his feet as she was led away; for stupid, disgusting mortals; for all of Elfhame and everyone in it. Hate that was so bright and hot that it was the first thing that truly warmed him. Hate that felt so good that he welcomed being consumed by it. Not a heart of stone, but a heart of fire.”

“Better you experience the humiliation of being beaten by a creature who ought to be your inferior. And every time you think of how disgusting mortals are- with their pocked skin and their decaying teeth and their fragile, little minds- I want you to think of this moment, when you were lower than ever that. And I want you to remember how you willingly submitted, because if you don't, you will have to leave Hollow Hall and my mercy. 'Now, little brother, you must choose a future.' It turned out that Cardan didn't have a heart of stone after all. As he removed his shirt and sank to his knees, as he fisted his hands and tried not to cry out when the strap fell, he burned with hatred. Hatred for Dain; for his father; for all the siblings who didn't take him in and the one who did; for his mother, who spat at his feet as she was led away; for stupid, disgusting mortals; for all of Elfhame and everyone in it. Hate that was so bright and hot that it was the first thing that truly warmed him. Hate that felt so good that he welcomed being consumed by it. Not a heart of stone, but a heart of fire.”