Samantha Shannon

Maybe not the blacklisted music and forbidden novels, but I could have found a tree to read by, or made coffee before daybreak, under other circumstances.

a woman with acorn skin and watchful eyes, whose posture had been almost regal—he had sensed an inner warmth. Not the heat of wyrmfire, but something soft and golden, like the first light of a summer morning.

Cockatrice, most likely. It combines the qualities of both.”

Peace. I envy them too, sometimes. How easy they seem to find it. Onren, especially.”

Remember, Tané, that a sword does not need to be whetted at all hours to keep it sharp.”

As he looked her in the face, Tané knew, at last, that he would never call her village chaff again. To call her that would prove that chaff could grow taller than grass.

Under the cracked-open sky, the descendant of riders bowed to her, lower than he ever had

Donmata,” Loth murmured.

She held his gaze.

The sole heir of King Sigoso and the late Queen Sahar.

Yscalin does not only worship the Nameless One. We are also under Draconic rule. Fýredel is the true king of Yscalin, and his spies lurk everywhere. It was why I had to act the way I did in the throne room. It is all a performance.”

You seek the Duke of Temperance. Fynch is dead, and has been for months. I sent him to carry out a task for me, in the name of Virtudom, but . . . he never returned.”