Stephanie ☾

“Tell me you want to leave, and I’ll take you back to Roslo myself.” He was giving me the choice. All I had to do was say yes. “No,” I whispered. His eyes drifted closed, his forehead dropping to mine. “Good. I have no desire to live in Quentis.” “Wh-what?” I leaned away. “You are mine.” His hands dove into my hair, fingers threading through my curls. “Even if we are kingdoms apart, you are mine. But I’d rather not be a kingdom apart.”
― Devney Perry, Shield of Sparrows

“When you’re not near, you occupy every corner of my life. Half of my thoughts are about you. All of my dreams involve you. My hopes and fears and purpose revolve around you.”
― Hannah Bonam-Young, Out of the Woods

“I didn’t ask to be married to a stranger and shipped across the continent. I didn’t ask to come to Turah. I didn’t ask to be jailed in a wilderness treehouse. Those were decisions made for me by the whims of men. So you can threaten to take away my freedom all you want, but I will fight you. Every step of the way. Until my last breath. And I will not go quietly into a cage.”
― Devney Perry, Shield of Sparrows

“There was a tether between us. Gods save us when it snapped. Why couldn’t I feel this way for the man who’d claimed me? Our mouths were too close. All it would take was a shift and we’d collide. We’d crash into each other, and the shock waves would destroy us both. I needed him to say something mean. To strike a nerve. To bruise my heart. I needed him to hurt me so thoroughly, I’d never forgive him. “I hate you.” It should have broken the moment. It should have pissed him off. But he stared at me like I was something to behold. Something to cherish. Something to protect. “Yes, you do,” he said. “Don’t forget.” “Never.”
― Devney Perry, Shield of Sparrows