Sara Raasch

It's a weapon we have, and we need all the weapons we can get

No one should be forced to be something they aren't.

Mather smiles at me through it, some of his tension softening before he drops his head in a small bow. "My queen," he says in response.

No matter what happens, no matter who turns on me, no matter what pompous swine thinks he has power over me, I am still me. I will always be me.

I can weave threads of myself into a tapestry already designed by others.

I know there are things you aren__ telling me. Big things_Sir, I will find out. I only hope your reasoning is good enough for me to forgive you.

A Winterian wielding an Autumnian weapon, using Cordellan allegiance to bring Spring crumbling down.

I know he sees it, because for the briefest moment he drops his expressionless mask and the look in his eyes shows me he feels the same way. A mirror of every part of myself I can't bear to face.

That's why literature is so fascinating. It's always up for interpretation, and could be a hundred different things to a hundred different people. It's never the same thing twice.

Anything that lives here has to be just as harsh and determined as the sun, born of a fiery stubbornness that is either extremely brave or extremely stupid.

You've fought for Winter so spectacularly, and I am more proud than I have ever been to call you my son. But don't forget to fight for yourself as well--there is no shame in that

If stubborness were all that was needed to be a good queen, I'd rule the world.

Even the strongest blizzards start with a single snowflake.

Whoever designed this city built it to complement the setting sun as perfectly as the stars complement the night.

Congratulations, everyone," I announce as I open the door to Noam's study. "You've finally broken Meira, the crazy, orphaned soldier-girl. She's snapped, all thanks to the mention of floral arrangements.

In the face of all that has happened, it feels good, really good, to just breathe for a moment.

All those practice fights when it was just us, two children pretending to be soldiers. Or two soldiers pretending to be children.