A Soul of Ash and Blood

“I told you the truth, Princess. I’m intrigued by you, and it’s fairly rare anyone intrigues me.”

“But I was about to begin learning just how wrong I was about you. Because I was about to finally meet you, and you…You were about to meet who I used to be.”

“You can’t change what happened in there. Just like you can’t change the fact that the courtyard used to give you peace. You just replace your last memory—a bad one—with a new one—a good one. And you keep doing that until the initial one no longer outweighs the replacement.”

“What I was doing to myself was weakening him. You’d think that would’ve been enough to snap me out of it, seeing what it was doing to him, but it wasn’t. I was too lost in my head, though not lost enough that I didn’t know how fucking selfish it made me.”

“That strange feeling I’d felt when we were beneath the willow? The sensation of rightness? It was a part of my soul recognizing yours. Heartmate. That’s what I felt falling into place. I had no idea that was what I was feeling then.”

“The loss of a parent or a family member lingers long after they’re gone, the pain lessening but never fading. Years later, you’ll still find yourself thinking that you’d do anything to get them back.”

“Only the bad can be influenced, Princess.”

“But the night on the Rise, when the Craven attacked, I realized then that Kieran and I really had underestimated you.”

“I came back for you that night. Just like I told you I would. I came back for you, and you weren’t there. You promised me, Princess.”

“I’d gladly serve any monstrous being if it meant you were safe. I can’t fault him for that. I really can’t. But…I don’t know how I can forgive him for what he planned to do to you. He may not have harmed you with his own hands, but his actions left their marks on you.”

“I should’ve known something was up with the Duchess when she had no problem with me being in your chambers, but things always seem different in hindsight, don’t they? I couldn’t even consider then that they knew who I was and not only allowed me to take you but practically helped facilitate it.”

“I’m with you. Always. Even if I think what you’re doing is idiotic.”

“She’s survived some horrible shit and has the scars and strength to prove it. She’s brave, Kieran. Passionate. Hungry for life and experience. She’s fierce, even a little vicious when provoked. Or a lot vicious. You were right when you said we’d underestimated her. She’s nothing like we expected.”

“All it takes is a second for your enemy to gain the upper hand. Nothing more than the length of a heartbeat, given to either arrogance or vengeance, to lose all which truly matters. And if that isn’t something you’ve yet learned, you will.”

“Yes. I find women who can wield a dagger and nearly knock me on my ass to be extremely alluring. And arousing.”

“That was when it began to change—how I thought of you. Saw you. You were no longer the Maiden. You were becoming… You were becoming Poppy.”

“No one in there will care that he struck the Maiden. Right or wrong, they don’t see her as a person. When they look at her, all they see is a symbol of the Ascended, of those who have killed many of their kin and drove their people to near extinction. That doesn’t mean they all agree with what he did, but you need to think about what it will do if you walk in there and kill him—a wolven who descends from one of the eldest families.”

“Fear and bravery are often one and the same. It either makes you a warrior or a coward. The only difference is the person it resides inside.”