Cinda Williams Chima Quotes & Sayings

We can't rely on magic to win the day. — Cinda Williams Chima

You're a quiet one. You keep to yourself, but when you speak up, you tell the truth: in your music and every other way. — Cinda Williams Chima

She padded toward Han, barefoot, like a faerie startled out of a forest bower, bewitching mix of clan and flatland beauty. — Cinda Williams Chima

She could hear the rattle of hooves on stone evolve into a thunder of pursuit. — Cinda Williams Chima

I dreamed I read the cards for you," she said.
"And?"
"And I predicted I would bring heartbreak and trouble into your life," she said.
"Too late," he said, staring down at their joined hands. "Heartbreak and trouble got there ahead of you. — Cinda Williams Chima

They were like two pieces of a failed star, drawn together by a shared history and a memory of illicit kisses. — Cinda Williams Chima

As for my family, my father was Danel; he died as a mercenary in the southern wars," Han went on. "My mother's name was Sarah, called Sali, and my sister was Mari. They died last summer. But then, you already knew that. Every time you forget, I'll remind you. That's the blood sacrifice I made to be here, and that's enough. — Cinda Williams Chima

Sometimes a dream is enough. — Cinda Williams Chima

Even if the job you're assigned is not to your liking, a Matelon will see it done. — Cinda Williams Chima

I always say yes to the man with the sword. — Cinda Williams Chima

Jason felt humiliated and frustrated. Rejected by a rock. — Cinda Williams Chima

We'll have supper in a little while, but I believe we should eat dessert first. — Cinda Williams Chima

Either he's lying, which is bad. Or he could be telling the truth, which is worse — Cinda Williams Chima

D'Orsay's voice was cold. "Sponsors, control your warriors."
Hastings gave an almost imperceptable shrug. His warrior was upright only through the grace of his opponent. Wylie, on the other hand, was in Ellen's face immediately.
"What's the matter with you?" he hissed. "Finish him off, and let's be done with this." He made as if to grab her sword arm, as if he intended to settle the matter himself, but she threw him off hard. He landed in the grass. "You're a killer, Ellen!" he shouted. You've trained for this for a lifetime. Now do what comes naturally!"
Ellen pointed her sword at Wylie and flame ran along the blade.
"Be careful what you wish for," she said coldly. — Cinda Williams Chima

He sat in the other chair, taking advantage of the opportunity to take another good look at her. Her fawn-colored hair was sun-streaked from long days spent outdoors. Now it was done up copperhead style, the multiple braids decorated with beads and feathers. One braid per kill - wasn't that the rule? — Cinda Williams Chima

They fought for glory, but not for blood. — Cinda Williams Chima

You don't get what you don't go after. — Cinda Williams Chima

I wish I believed in something, Madison thought. I wish I belonged somewhere. — Cinda Williams Chima

How loud did the music have to be to drown out her thoughts? — Cinda Williams Chima

Ellen could have killed me," Jack said quietly, "but she didn't. She saved my life."
"How come?" Fitch demanded. "After all this?"
Ellen turned scarlet and stared at the ground. "Maybe none of my opponents ever gave me flowers before," she mumbled. — Cinda Williams Chima

You can't always pick where you fight, or who you fight ... or even ... how you fight. But do the picking ... whenever you can. — Cinda Williams Chima

For Hanalea the Warrior! — Cinda Williams Chima

I like rough edges. That's what makes a person real. — Cinda Williams Chima

Just a rat, she repeated to herself. After all, there were rats in the palace. Human and otherwise. Could be worse. — Cinda Williams Chima

The bluejacket girlie rode like a clan warrior, but there was no way she'd escape. It was a private life-and-death contest that had nothing to do with him.
He told himself he should ride on, grateful that the chase would keep them occupied while he took a different path.
But what had he told Rebecca when she'd asked what he meant to do when he returned to the Fells?
'I'm tired of people in power picking on the weak. I'm going to help them. — Cinda Williams Chima

Crow paced back and forth, his form flickering like flame. "It's been a thousand years, Alister. I never intended for anyone to find it, so it's very well protected. One little misstep, and you and my line will be history."
"Since when are you so concerned about your line?" Han said.
Crow stared at him for a long moment. "Since I found out I had one, — Cinda Williams Chima

Then talk to Hastings."
Leesha flinched. "He's so scary, you know? — Cinda Williams Chima

Raisa felt relieved, yet oddly disappointed. She was the blooded princess heir, yet in servants' clothes she was apparently unrecognizable. In the stories, rulers had a natural presence about them that identified them as such, even dressed in rags.
What's the nature of royalty, she wondered. Is it like a gown you put on that disappears when you take it off? Does anyone look beyond the finery? Could anyone in the queendom take her place, given the right accessories? If so, it was contrary to everything she'd ever been taught about bloodlines. — Cinda Williams Chima

Just remember who you are ... The world will try to change you into someone else. Don't let them. That's the best advice anyone can give you. — Cinda Williams Chima

What kind of love would drive a man for miles through solid rock? — Cinda Williams Chima

It doesn't make sense to dwell on things you can't do anything about. — Cinda Williams Chima

That - that's a Carthian sun dragon," he said, shooting a look at Strangward. "Isn't it?"
Strangward nodded.
"But ... it is my understanding that dragons are not real," Botetort said.
Strangward looked from the dragon to Botetort. "I assure you, this dragon is absolutely real. Touch it if you like. — Cinda Williams Chima

In the outer city, the northern accents clamoring around — Cinda Williams Chima

One bright day in the middle of the night, two dead boys got up to fight. They drew their swords and shot each other. A deaf police man heard the noise, and ran to save the two dead boys. And if you don't believe it's true, ask the blind man, he saw it too. — Cinda Williams Chima

A vocation is not something you slap on, like a coat of paint, and change whenever you want. A vocation is built into you. You have no choice. If you try to do something else, you fail. — Cinda Williams Chima

You don't have to understand, you just have to survive. — Cinda Williams Chima

Sometimes she wondered if she was doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past, since she'd trained herself not to look back at it. — Cinda Williams Chima

Don't expect much and you won't be disappointed. — Cinda Williams Chima

Do you think I'm stupid? Only a fool would use a fast-acting poison on a target with a taster. The taster goes down before the king gets it into his system.
Lila blinked at him, as if surprised by this display of logic. — Cinda Williams Chima

You touch me again, you arrogant Ardenine swine, and I swear on the blood of Hanalea the warrior, I will geld you. Do you understand? — Cinda Williams Chima

Uh, Miss, you have second and third degree burns that need treatment,"he said.
"They'll be okay. I'll just use concealer for a while. — Cinda Williams Chima

You don't have to come with me," Ash said. "I only brought you along because you're good with a knife. And got us the uniforms. And the explosives."
Lila snorted. "Sorry I'm not pulling my weight."
"This may not be your idea," Ash said doggedly, "but it's what we're going to do."
"Is it? Are you really going to start playing the prince card after all?"
"Don' start in about my mother the queen, because I don't want to hear it."
"All right, then, as your peer and absolute equal, I can't help thinking this is a really bad idea. — Cinda Williams Chima

You didn't have to go to the fireworks with him. Or - or let him fondle you."
"Fondle?" Raisa raised her eyebrows, "When did I mention fondling? — Cinda Williams Chima

I look like a Solstice cake," Jenna complained when they were finished.
"Well," Treece said, "everybody likes Solstice cakes. — Cinda Williams Chima

The answer is no, I would rather marry the Demon King himself than marry you. I
suggest you look elsewhere for a bride. And heaven help the one you choose. — Cinda Williams Chima

Ellen drank long and deep from her water bottle and wiped her mouth with her gauntleted arm. "Are you feeling all right, Jack? Your play's flat, all in all. I was hoping to give Seph more of a show."
Jack tested the edge of his blade with his thumb. "Actually, Ellen, I wondered if you were coming down with something. You were downright lethargic. I nearly dozed off once or twice."
"Well, that explains it. You looked like you were asleep."
With that, they threw down their weapons and it dissolved into a wrestling match. In the end they were kissing each other.
It was certainly a different kind of courtship, but there was a chemistry, an understanding, a kinship between Jack and Ellen that Seph envied. — Cinda Williams Chima

I need to go to parties, Raisa mused, so I don't think so much. — Cinda Williams Chima

I go to school here, same as you,' Han said.
Micah blinked at him stupidly, the drink slowing him down. 'You? Do you even know how to read and write? They can't have lowered the standards that much.'
'Well,' Han said, 'they let you in. — Cinda Williams Chima

I live in the present because the future is always chancy. When it comes to being with you, I'm willing to take the risk. — Cinda Williams Chima

Road trip?"
"I'm going to dig up some dead relatives," she went on, "and ask them where the family money is. — Cinda Williams Chima

Leesha knew from experience that when parents don't parent, kids grow up fast. — Cinda Williams Chima

Getawayfrommeyoumiserablelittlecreep. — Cinda Williams Chima

Whoa, Rebecca," Talia said smiling even wider, "Walking on the wild side, are we?"
Raisa seemed to think the situation needed more explaining. "He - uh - I'm tutoring him."
"She is," Han said solemnly. "She's very good. I'm learning a lot."
Pearlie snickered. "What's she teaching you?"
"Well," Han said, "we're jumping around a lot. — Cinda Williams Chima

And it's not just a matter of you hurting me. I will hurt you too, even if I don't want to, I'm not the girl you think I am. And you will remember this conversation , and wish that you'd listened to me. — Cinda Williams Chima

As with evil, you never know when you'll be blindsided by kindness. — Cinda Williams Chima

Can you imagine it, Alister? Can you imagine what it was like for a shade like me to experience the world again through all of your senses- vision and touch, and smell and taste and hearing?"
"I wouldn't have gone to the library, I'll tell you that," Han said.
Crow laughed. "I like you, Alister. All of this would have been easier if you were unlikable. And stupid. You would have been considerably more tractable. — Cinda Williams Chima

I have lost everything, Han thought. Then he corrected himself. Every time I think I've lost everything, I find there's still something else to lose. — Cinda Williams Chima

How dare you?' Bayar began, but his voice had lost some of its force. 'How dare you come into this sacred hall, flinging accusations?'
'I have not yet made any accusations,' Willo said. 'Perhaps it is our own guilt clamoring in your ears. — Cinda Williams Chima

Surround yourselves with trustworthy people. If you don't, all the weaponry and tactics in the world can't save you. — Cinda Williams Chima

She had never felt more alive than when she lay dying in Han Alister's arms. — Cinda Williams Chima

Come on! We've had too many dead heroes. Being a coward increases your odds of survival-that's my motto. I'm counting on bieng faster than them. — Cinda Williams Chima

A fiction writer is never entirely alone. Her characters are constantly whispering in her ear. — Cinda Williams Chima

His name was Theo. — Cinda Williams Chima

He forgot everything: the sorcerer upstairs, the mission, his own imperfection, and the shame and bitterness that came with it. — Cinda Williams Chima

There's something about a roof isn't there? It makes you feel like it doesn't matter what's going on below. All of those things that get in the way of your dreams - you're above them. Anything is possible. — Cinda Williams Chima

Allison was at full strength when it came to one thing:attitude. — Cinda Williams Chima

Please, Kenzie, Jonah thought. Please, please, please back off from this. His life wasn't much, but it was all he had, this small safe space, walled in by secrets. — Cinda Williams Chima

Sometimes you have to get away to remember who you are. Believe in yourself, Lyss. You're strong and smart enough to do this job. Never let anyone tell you different. — Cinda Williams Chima

Don't pick a fight you can't win. — Cinda Williams Chima

If she'd ever hoped to impress Amon Byrne with her newly acquired glamour and beauty, that chance was gone forever. He'd seen her in every kind of ugly. — Cinda Williams Chima

Truth be told, Raisa had no intention of marrying anyone any time soon. Her mother was young - she would rule for many years yet, so there was no need to rush into the confinement of marriage. — Cinda Williams Chima

Hope is a dangerous thing, Raisa thought. Once kindled, it's hard to put out. It makes wise people into fools. — Cinda Williams Chima

Sometimes you have to go somewhere else to appreciate what we have here. — Cinda Williams Chima

Is it really your intention to be a soldier, Morley?" Askell asked. "Wouldn't it make more sense for you to study the softer sciences? Healing, art, and philosophy are all important topics. That's a more typical course of study for those of your station."
"My station or my gender, sir?" Rasia said. "You've said Wien House is full of thanelings and dukes. I can think of only one way in which they are different from me. — Cinda Williams Chima

If I could destroy the world, don't you think I could fight off the queen of the Fells? Crow snorted. — Cinda Williams Chima

Maybe you're the one that gave me up to the Darians at Oden's Ford."
"Right," she said, staring up at the ceiling. "And then I turned around and rescued you. You know women - changeable as a day in April. Sometimes we just can't make up our minds. — Cinda Williams Chima

But it's not enough to know right from wrong. You need the strength to do what's right, even when what you want most in the world is the wrong thing. — Cinda Williams Chima

A sensible girl would not have been crying, grieving for the boy with the magic in his voice and the blues in his eyes, mourning the loss of something that was a lie-a lie-from beginning to end. — Cinda Williams Chima

It's true what they say, then-history is written by the victors. — Cinda Williams Chima

It was a peculiar marriage of interests- Lord Averill and Captain Byrne and Lord Bayar and Han Alister agreeing on anything was as rare as gold in Ragmarket. — Cinda Williams Chima

Admit nothing - that was his first rule. Appeal to logic - second rule. Delay the inevitable - third rule. — Cinda Williams Chima

Nobody's going to hand you anything. You don't get what you don't go after. — Cinda Williams Chima

Mellon is thirteen," Raisa said. "I hope you have experience babysitting, Micah, because you're going to need it. Assuming the Demonai don't assassinate you first. Married at thirteen, widowed at fourteen. Poor Mellony. — Cinda Williams Chima

As I said, history is written by the victors. The truth is, the villains were less villainous, and the heroes less heroic, than you've been told. — Cinda Williams Chima

Like a stand of lodgepole pines in a gale Raisa's followers all went down leaving her standing alone ... There's no shelter for me not from any of this. I'll stand alone the rest of my life. THE GRAY WOLF THRONE p. 163 — Cinda Williams Chima

Like everyone else at the Anchorage, except maybe for Natalie, Jonah had developed the blinders that allowed him to dance on. That prevented him from seeing the gradual decline of everyone around him; that allowed him to pretend that they weren't all heading for the same tragic end. The band played on as the ship sank beneath them. Distracted by the magic of music, they would keep dancing until the wavesclosed over thier heads. — Cinda Williams Chima

He radiated a calm focus
like he knew who he was and where he was going. He was a steady mooring in a sea of change. Hr was honest and kept his word, and he was unrelentingly fair. It made people want to follow him. — Cinda Williams Chima

You look like a boy who has eaten the fruit of the tree of knowledge and doesn't like the taste. — Cinda Williams Chima

But music-good music-was by nature an intimate act. — Cinda Williams Chima

Scummer," Mick muttered. Mick never said much, and when he did it was usually "scummer. — Cinda Williams Chima

A girl who would never play in a tournament. She'd been butchered by agents of the Red Rose when they'd been unable to steal her away. — Cinda Williams Chima

I have to think it's possible to suffer a great wrong and walk away from it. To build a life of small, exquisitely important moments. — Cinda Williams Chima

Well, all right, Ash thought. Maybe freeing the dragon wasn't such a good idea. — Cinda Williams Chima

Commander! Sir! Wake up!
Jack surfaced from sleep, wondering who the commander was and wishing he'd respond so he could go back to sleep - until he remembered that he was the commander. — Cinda Williams Chima

He keeps this up, he's bound to be caught, she thought. And this time they'll dangle him for certain. — Cinda Williams Chima

But I don't want your throne." "Then what do you want?" "You. — Cinda Williams Chima

The problem is, hope is the thing that can't be reined in by rules or pinned down by bitter experience. It's a blessing and curse. — Cinda Williams Chima

I like to think there's a little bit of me in you:a love for music and a stubborn streak a mile wide. But we're different, you and me, and I don't forget it. You're strong and you're tough and you tell the truth. You're a good person, Emma. I'm none of those things. I used to think I was tough, but now I know I'm the biggest coward that ever lived. — Cinda Williams Chima

If someone grabs you in the street, hit hard and fast, because you may not get a second chance. — Cinda Williams Chima

Her clothes still smoked from the wizard's assault. But to him, she always smelled of flowers. — Cinda Williams Chima