Matilda > Matilda's Quotes

“That was the moment I knew I loved you, he had said. When that arrow went through your heart, and it might as well have gone through mine.”
― Alex Aster, Lightlark

“And I don’t know what I enjoy more. Replaying the image of my sword against your throat . . . or thinking about how your heart might look on my plate.” Grim’s dark eyes flashed with amusement. “Careful, Hearteater,” he whispered, towering over her, standing far too close. “I might just give it to you.”
― Alex Aster, Lightlark

“I’m not sure what I enjoy more. Seeing the way you grip a sword . . . or the way your dress grips you.”
― Alex Aster, Lightlark

“Look at me, heart. I want to watch you come undone.”
― Alex Aster, Lightlark

“I could open a black hole that would swallow the beach. I could turn the sea dark as ink and kill everything inside of it. I could demolish the castle, brick by brick, from where we stand. I could take you back to Nightshade lands with me right now.” His voice was deep as dreams, dark as nightmares. “I could do all of those things.” His lips pressed against the top of her ear, for just a moment. “And I might—if I didn’t think you would hate me for it.”
― Alex Aster, Lightlark

“The only way not to fear death is to meet it.”
― Alex Aster, Lightlark

“If anyone makes a move to harm you, I will ruin them and their entire realm.” His fingers trailed down her face, past her throat, then tugged gently on the pendant at the end of her necklace. “Pull this,” he said. “And I’ll be there.” Isla believed him. She believed only him.”
― Alex Aster, Lightlark

“She spoke of kings who could grip the sun in their hands, white-haired women who could make the sea dance, castles in clouds, and flowers that bloomed pure power.”
― Alex Aster, Lightlark

“Oro pressed two fingers against her heart. Ran them lower, to the center of her chest. A vine snaked its way across the balcony and bloomed a red rose. Oro plucked it. Offered it to her. She stared down at the flower. A rose with thorns, just like her. It was beautiful. Vicious. Isla took it, then threw it over her shoulder, clean off the balcony. And stood on her toes so her forehead touched his. Oro stilled. His eyes were amber and burning, nothing like the emptiness she had glimpsed the first day of the Centennial. He looked at her like she was the thing they had torn apart the island for, the heart he had been desperately trying to find all these years, the needle that had finally threaded him together. Isla took a shaky breath.”
― Alex Aster, Lightlark

“Isla clutched the heart of Lightlark with one hand, her own sputtering its last beats. With the other, she reached up and pulled on her necklace. Grim appeared from thin air before her fingers could uncurl from the diamond. His eyes widened at the sight of her covered in blood. She was in his arms in an instant. “Please,” Oro said from the cave, and Isla hardly recognized his voice. Why was he begging? Did he want her to leave the heart? Her hand went limp, and the yolk fell to the ground. The last thing she saw was Oro’s face, fragmented into a handful of emotions, each more surprising than the last. And then she was gone.”
― Alex Aster, Lightlark

“Grim looked amused, eyeing her every step in a way that made her flush, mortified.”
― Alex Aster, Lightlark

“You have invaded my mind. I have questioned my sanity. I think about you all the time.”
― Alex Aster, Lightlark

“You are enough, little bird. Better than any of them.”
― Alex Aster, Lightlark

“That was the moment I knew I loved you, he had said. When that arrow
went through your heart, and it might as well have gone through mine.”
― Alex Aster, Lightlark

“She pressed herself closer, completely against him, reading his reaction, surprising herself with her boldness. And Grim only laughed darkly. His hand ran a slow trail down her spine—then up once more. “Hearteater,” he said into her ear. “You’re killing me.”
― Alex Aster, Lightlark

“His mouth was suddenly at her ear. “I could open a black hole that would swallow the beach. I could turn the sea dark as ink and kill everything inside of it. I could demolish the castle, brick by brick, from where we stand. I could take you back to Nightshade lands with me right now.” His voice was deep as dreams, dark as nightmares. “I could do all of those things.” His lips pressed against the top of her ear, for just a moment. “And I might—if I didn’t think you would hate me for it.”
― Alex Aster, Lightlark

“His dark eyes seemed to get even darker as they met hers, and he said, “I’m not sure what I enjoy more. Seeing the way you grip a sword . . . or the way your dress grips you.”
― Alex Aster, Lightlark

“And I don’t know what I enjoy more. Replaying the image of my sword against your throat . . . or thinking about how your heart might look on my plate.”
― Alex Aster, Lightlark

“Terra learned early on that she liked to read. So, she used books as incentives. If Isla didn’t complain about her split knuckles or sore muscles during training, if she mastered a certain fighting technique, if she threw her throwing stars right at their marks, she was rewarded with a trip to the library. Isla cherished them, wrote her favorite lines down on paper. Felt pangs of grief when she was forced to give them away in exchange for another.”
― Alex Aster, Lightlark

“Hearteater.” His voice broke on the word. She faced him. “I thought you were dead.”
― Alex Aster, Lightlark

“Isla finally rose. Grim had done everything for the same reason she had tried to win the Centennial—to save those he loved and bring power back to his realm. On every level, she understood. The difference was Isla had been willing to give up everything for him. When, the entire time, he had used her as a pawn. She spat in Grim’s direction. Isla looked at Oro and hoped he read the apology in her eyes. Because of her, because he had been foolish enough to love a Wildling, his worst fear had been confirmed. He had lost his power. He had been right not to trust her. Not to trust anyone. She should have done the same.”
― Alex Aster, Lightlark

“Their foreheads pressed together, and she had never felt more alive, more bare, than she did in that moment, having him watch as endless sensations overcame her. Grim looked her right in the eyes as every feeling intensified, saturated, more than she had ever thought possible. And something about it all was so familiar, like falling asleep, or humming to the rain, or breathing. Like she had already done it all a thousand times in her dreams.”
― Alex Aster, Lightlark

“He looked at her like she was the thing they had torn apart the island for, the heart he had been desperately trying to find all these years, the needle that had finally threaded him together.”
― Alex Aster, Lightlark

“The sun was a running yolk, smearing gold and orange and red across the sky, as if desperate to leave its mark. The clouds were cotton dipped in pink dye.”
― Alex Aster, Lightlark

“That was the moment I knew I loved you. When that arrow went through your heart, and it might as well have gone through mine.”
― Alex Aster, Lightlark

“Isla Crown often fell through puddles of stars and into faraway places.”
― Alex Aster, Lightlark

“Don’t feel too special,” Azul said with a wink. “She’s this unpleasant to everyone.”
― Alex Aster, Lightlark

“Bodies fell from the sky like stars that had lost their grip on the galaxy.”
― Alex Aster, Lightlark

“She had learned that it was better to let others speak when she had much to hide.”
― Alex Aster, Lightlark

“Don’t take another . . . float,” she said, looking down and not seeing any feet.”
― Alex Aster, Lightlark