Rosamund Hodge Quotes & Sayings

I wasn't born to be saved. — Rosamund Hodge

But that's what makes it so exciting. Will she kiss me or will she kill me - I think every man secretly wants to play that game — Rosamund Hodge

Please tell me you did something good."

"No," Romeo said bleakly. "I did something terrible."

Wait, Paris said silently. You can't tell him about that.

Don't we have to? said Romeo.

We don't know anything about him! How do we know he won't sell us out to the City Guard?

He leads a gang, said Romeo. He's probably not on speaking terms with the Guard. And do we have a choice?

"Does it have anything to do with the marks you have on your hands, which look strangely similar to the marks worn by the Juliet and her Guardian, and the way you stare at each other silently like you're talking mind to mind?" Vai asked innocently. — Rosamund Hodge

Most of all, I wanted to forget my mission and lose myself in the embrace of the one person who had ever seen my heart and claimed to love me after. — Rosamund Hodge

I had kissed the monster who governed our world — Rosamund Hodge

Every day for the last three years, she had thought she deserved to die. She still didn't want to. She wanted to live with every filthy desperate scrap of her heart — Rosamund Hodge

And you would know so much about women, locked up in your castle."
"Locked up with eight wives. And sometimes I make house calls for my bargainers. There's many a lovely woman desperate enough to bargain with me."
This idea had never occurred to me before. "You touch another woman and I'll cut your hands off," I snapped.
He looked delighted. "I thought you were afraid of hurting me. — Rosamund Hodge

But my family I had always had a duty to love, no matter how they had wronged me. — Rosamund Hodge

You touch another woman and I'll cut your hands off, I snapped. — Rosamund Hodge

Someone else should be avenging her. Somebody who wasn't so stupid. — Rosamund Hodge

I'm your husband. I can wait as long as I please and still have all of you. — Rosamund Hodge

You were sent here to die. You were the one that was not needed, was not wanted, and they sent you here because they knew you would never come back. — Rosamund Hodge

Because lovely, innocent girls could not ever hope to fight the Devourer. — Rosamund Hodge

The problem with martyrs is that they're all dead — Rosamund Hodge

What is this?" demanded the High Priestess from the doorway.

So here she was, back in the Hall of Judgment, facing a circle of priestesses.

Again? said Juliet. You do not have the wisest habits.

At least I haven't died yet, said Runajo. — Rosamund Hodge

My back crawls with icy fear; it takes all my will not to duck behind statues and into doorways every time somebody passes me. The only thing that holds me to my steady, purposeful stride is the knowledge that if I run, I will look guilty, and if I look guilty, I will be caught, and if I am caught, I will be punished, and if I am punished, Mother will know and she can't know, she can't, she can't.

My cheeks ache. I realize I'm smiling. — Rosamund Hodge

I love you," he said. "I love you more than any other creature, because you are cruel, and kind, and alive. Nyx Triskelion, will you be my wife? — Rosamund Hodge

He's kissing me and though this is the first time, it feels like recovering a long-forgotten memory. My body seems to say, "Yes, this," and then I'm kissing him back as if I were born to be in his arms. I never realized how tightly guilt and fear had been wound about me until this moment, when they unwind into the air and fly away, leaving me with nothing but this guileless delight. — Rosamund Hodge

Sounds impossible. I like it. Except it is pretty impossible. You don't happen to remember anything else extremely useful that you've omitted to mention until now?"

"Er," said Paris.

"That was actually a joke," said Vai.

"I'm not good at jokes," said Paris. — Rosamund Hodge

Shade caught my hand, slid his fingers through mine. The touch felt like lightning up my arm.
"He's right about one thing," he said. "This house has many dangers. I cannot save you from most of them."
I clenched my hand until I felt the bones of his fingers.
Then I let go and forced a smile. "I wasn't born to be saved. — Rosamund Hodge

If you desired someone, if he comforted you, if you thought he might leech the poison out of your heart, was that love? Or only desperation? — Rosamund Hodge

So you know what's wrong but you don't know what's right. What use is that? Well, it narrows down the options anyway. — Rosamund Hodge

He is a monster, I said. Maybe I m a monster to pity him — Rosamund Hodge

I hope you aren't planning to order me back to bed."
"No, you have far too much crockery at your disposal. — Rosamund Hodge

The crash sliced through my head; it left me gasping and shivering, like all the other times I let my temper out, but the voices stopped. — Rosamund Hodge

But you know what you are, and what you deserve. You lie to me but not to yourself. That's why I love you. — Rosamund Hodge

You will honor my mother or I will break this bottle over your head — Rosamund Hodge

Have you seen lamplight shine through dusty air, setting the dust motes on fire?" He waved a hand. "Imagine that, spread across the night sky - but ten thousand motes and ten thousand times brighter, glittering like the eyes of all the gods. — Rosamund Hodge

Everyone who ever bargains with me is convinced that he is righteous. Even the ones who come sad-eyed and guilty - they weep to the gods that they are sinners, but in their hearts they believe their need is so special that it justifies any sin, that they are heroes for losing all their righteousness and paying with their souls. — Rosamund Hodge

The Kindly Ones would say it didn't matter. And maybe they were right. We still could have snatched happiness from our tragedy if we had made the right choices, the right wishes. If we had been kinder, braver, purer. If only we had been anything but what we were. — Rosamund Hodge

Come. I was on my way to the park; I know a quiet spot where you can sit down."
"In public? With a servant?" I protest as he starts to draw me down the street.
"What is the point of being the duke's heir if I can't cause a scandal now and then? — Rosamund Hodge

If you start wondering how this house works, you'll likely go mad. That could be amusing, I suppose. Especially if it's the kind of madness that causes you to run naked through the hallways. Do feel free to indulge in that anytime. — Rosamund Hodge

He was a fool for trusting me. i was a fool for caring if he got hurt — Rosamund Hodge

Speechless?" asked Erec. "Don't be ashamed. I bring all ladies to that state sooner or later."
"Too bad for you," she said, "I'm not a lady. — Rosamund Hodge

It's enough," said Xu. "I'll call in all my favors."

"I'll call in all my favors," said Vai.

"Tell your favors to stay away from my favors," said Xu, "or there may be a few more arrests than you want from the evening."

"Don't worry," said Vai. "My people can handle themselves. — Rosamund Hodge

Well, I'm already hoping there could be a dinner where you don't try to stab me with your fork," he said.
"You might need to make your peace with disappointment. — Rosamund Hodge

Whatever creature you turn into, whatever form you take, I won't let go of you. — Rosamund Hodge

The moon is alone, and so am I;

My sleeves are wet with tears. — Rosamund Hodge

And perhaps that was where the trouble began. Arcadia was greatly blessed, and sooner or later, every blessing has a price. — Rosamund Hodge

Don't look at the shadows too long or a demon might look back. — Rosamund Hodge

And he smiled the wild, vicious smile that had made me fall in love. — Rosamund Hodge

Perhaps for him there's a way to love that's sane and happy, that isn't cruel. — Rosamund Hodge

For all his love, he let her go. He tried his best to escape her. I had not believed that anyone could love like that. — Rosamund Hodge

Add to that six tables of cakes, ices, and punch bowls, a group of seven musicians playing the violin, three hundred candles, and who knew how many courtiers, and the result was a room that made Rachelle feel like she was being punched in the face just by looking at it. — Rosamund Hodge

We are bound in every world, my lady. — Rosamund Hodge

The question is," said Amelie, sounding like she had just come to the end of a long speech, "are you brave enough?"
"What?"
"I can't make you beautiful," said Amelie. "I'm going to give you the most beautiful makeup you've ever seen, but if you just sit under it and - and wilt, you'll look pathetic. It's like a sword. If you don't wield it, then it isn't any use to you. And it's all right if you want to look pathetic most of the time, but this is my one chance to show anyone what I can do, so you are not going to ruin it. Understood? — Rosamund Hodge

I was not born to be saved. — Rosamund Hodge

He was my enemy. He was evil. He wasn't even human. I should have been disgusted, but just like the last time, I couldn't help myself any more than water could stop itself running downhill. — Rosamund Hodge

This is the human way, she thought. On the edge of destruction, at the end of all things, we still dance. And hope. — Rosamund Hodge

Love is madness," I say. "Doesn't everyone agree that you'd do anything, endure anything, to be with the ones you love? So either you're willing to let them use you with any sort of cruelty, so long as they keep you - which makes you a fool - or you're willing to commit any cruelty, so long as you get to keep them - which makes you a monster. Either way, it's madness. — Rosamund Hodge

She had never, in her whole life, been satisfied with peace. — Rosamund Hodge

If one of us had to die, it ought to be the one with poison in her heart. — Rosamund Hodge

Why is he scared of the dark?"
I meant the words for a joke, but Shade nodded seriously. "Like all monsters. Because it reminds him of what he truly is". — Rosamund Hodge

I am going home. You and your lady can stay here and rot. Or have a tea party. I really don't care. — Rosamund Hodge

There were three of them, all with rapiers, and she had only a dagger. It would have been a wretchedly uneven fight, if she were human.
It was still a wretchedly uneven fight; it was just uneven in her favor. — Rosamund Hodge

Paris?" she said hazily, and that was when Paris whirled to face the wall again, because she was barely clothed, and now that she wasn't on the verge of dying, that was a lot more embarrassing. And improper. And kind of attractive, which he was really trying not to think about right now. — Rosamund Hodge

Arms around me in the dark. Lips against mine in the sunlight. Do you know why I love you?
He knew me. And loved me. And he had never asked me for anything. Even Shade wanted me to
die for him. Maybe I shouldn't forgive a monster just because he loved me that way - but
But loving me that way made him a monster. My doom was the price of saving Arcadia, and only
a monster would care more about me than saving thousands upon thousands of innocents. Shade was
the last prince; of course if he could save only one, he would choose Arcadia. I would do the same. — Rosamund Hodge

I remember the hours I had spent in Father's library, drugging myself with books so I could forget my doom for an hour.. — Rosamund Hodge

Then he kissed her again. And kissed her and kissed her, until her heartbeat was a song and her veins pulsed with honey and fire, and his arms were around her and he was not letting go. He new what she was and he was not letting go.
She had never understood, until now, what it would be like to kiss somebody who was not trying to use or master her. Who cleanly and simply /delighted/ in her. — Rosamund Hodge

You deserve all that and more. It made me happy to see you suffer. I would do it all over again if I could.' I realized I was shaking as the words tumbled out of me. 'I would do it again and again. Every night I would torment you and laugh. Do you understand? You are never safe with me.' I drew a shuddering breath, trying to will away the sting of tears.
He opened his eyes and stared up at me as if I were the door out of Arcadia and back to the true sky. 'That's what makes you my favorite.' He reached up and wiped a tear off my cheek with his thumb. 'Every wicked bit of you. — Rosamund Hodge

I killed somebody and I'm not sorry," she said, calmly and very distinctly. "I don't think you want me on your altars unless blasphemy is the custom of your kingdom. — Rosamund Hodge

The better to kill me in my sleep?" "It would be rude to wake you first. — Rosamund Hodge

If you'd ever asked, I would have crawled to help you. But you never wanted my help. You only wanted me to be your sweet and smiling sister. So I smiled and smiled, until I thought I would break. — Rosamund Hodge

Ignifex's eyes widened a fraction. "He's a coward and a fool," he repeated distantly, as if he had learnt the words by rote. Then his gaze snapped back to me. "Why shouldn't I know my own shadow?"
"He got better than you at kissing somehow," I said. "Don't you ever wonder how?"
If Shade was really the prince-and I still thought he was-then perhaps he could stir up some of Ignifex's memories.
Maybe I wanted him to be jealous, too.
Ignifex opened his mouth to speak, but I cut him off. "You can meditate on that for a while. I need to go look for ways to defeat you. — Rosamund Hodge

Ghosts are laid to rest when injustices are righted, when their duties are fulfilled. But my mother's duty is to make me happy so long as I live. So there is not rest for her, and no escape for me. I will be happy and happy until it kills me. — Rosamund Hodge

That's a cold-blooded way to view the world," said Runajo.

"And the way of the Sisters isn't?"

"Blood is hot when you spill it," said Runajo, and Juliet laughed suddenly, her head tilting back. — Rosamund Hodge

She had won them the sun and the moon, but she had become a monster — Rosamund Hodge

I'm your wife! I burn for your touch! I thirst for your love! — Rosamund Hodge

Lirralei was a girl of storm
winds and thorns, the musk of the wild rose and the flight of the falcon. — Rosamund Hodge

I tell you, there was nothing she would not do for her brother. — Rosamund Hodge

He took wives on the orders of his masters. They wanted him to know that he could never be free. They had burnt the holes in the sky, and they let the demons - Children of Typhon - ravage people against his will. — Rosamund Hodge

All it had cost me was everything — Rosamund Hodge

And that was how I ended up with the Gentle Lord in my bed, his head resting in my lap. He looked even younger when he slept - and since his eyes were closed, he looked human. I stroked his hair lightly; it was soft and silky as the fur of our old cat Penelope, and I wondered if he ever purred. — Rosamund Hodge

For one moment, I felt like a river running down to his ocean. — Rosamund Hodge

I remembered Ignifex's smirk and his confident words: I can wait all I want and still have you.
And I thought, Here is one thing he isn't getting. Standing on my toes, I kissed Shade on the lips.
It was just a bump of my face against his. Despite Aunt Telomache's lecture, I had no idea how long to prolong a kiss, and his lips startled me, foreign and cool as glass. But then he caught me under the chin and gently kissed my mouth open. Though his lips were still cool, his breath was warm; as he kissed me. I breathed in time to him, until I felt like my body was only a breath of air mixing with his. — Rosamund Hodge

I know what it is like to live every day and every hour by the fruits of someone else's wretched bargain. To see people suffer and know that they suffer because I am loved.
I would not do that to the ones I love. Not for anything in the whole wide world. — Rosamund Hodge

I'm the girl who never gets angry and never wants anything, and that's why my family is still alive. — Rosamund Hodge

Knowing the truth is not always a kindness. — Rosamund Hodge

The same wolfish greed beats in your heart: to have what you will, and kill for it. — Rosamund Hodge

I never thought that freedom would feel so much like grief. — Rosamund Hodge

They said that love was terrifying and tender, wild and sweet, and none of it made any sense.
But now I knew that every mad word was true. — Rosamund Hodge

Where you go, I shall go; where you die, I shall die, and there will I be buried. — Rosamund Hodge

He grinned at her, and it felt like there was no space or barrier at all between them, like his smile was happening inside her heart. Without meaning to at all, she smiled back. — Rosamund Hodge

Then he whispered - so softly I barely heard it - Please stay. — Rosamund Hodge

And don't tell me you're sorry, because that would make you a very pitiful assassin."
"I'm not an assassin!" My head snapped up and I saw that he was kneeling right beside me.
"Oh. I'm sorry. That would make you a very pitiful saboteur who carries a knife for nonviolent purposes." His crimson cat eyes were laughing at me. — Rosamund Hodge

If you have felt that way," said Juliet, "how can you despise her?"

"I still don't understand why you have suddenly decided that we don't all deserve death and suffering," said Runajo. "How recently did you tell me that we lived in a charnel house?"

Through the bond, she felt something like a flinch from Juliet. Then there was silence, and the sense of a wall between them.

After several moments, Juliet said quietly, "I do not - perhaps - wish to see you dead."

"That's boring and inconstant," said Runajo. "If we deserve death, then wish us dead. Don't indulge in half measures and wish us alive to keep on killing. — Rosamund Hodge

For a while they sat in silence together. Then Juliet said quietly, "Romeo would love this place."

Runajo thought of Romeo: sweet, enthusiastic, not terribly bright. (Dead.)

"Why?" she asked. "There aren't any pretty things for him to babble over."

Juliet gave her a disgruntled look. "Words," she said. "He loved words. — Rosamund Hodge

We have to go back," he said. "We have to tell them what happened..."


"This room is the last place that saw Juliet," Romeo said stubbornly. "I will lie here until I die."

"This is the sepulcher," said Paris. "Do you think the magi will clean around you while you wait to die of thirst? Get up. — Rosamund Hodge

I have an idea for that, actually. You two can be the guests, and bring me along as your sacrifice. That way I'll be in a position to help free the other sacrifices when we make our escape."

Paris had thought he was used to the horrifying idiocy that came out of Romeo's mouth, but apparently he was still able to be shocked.

"No," he said, "that is absolutely - "

Then he realized that Vai was looking at Romeo with a terrifying smile.

"I think I can work with that," said Vai. — Rosamund Hodge

Lady, may I see your face?"

"I am Catresou," she says. "I am the most sacred of all the Catresou, even more than my father."



"Yes," he says.

"Then why do you even dare to ask?"

"I am going to live and die for you," he tells her. "I would like to know your face."

"You will certainly die, at any rate."

"And for the past three hours I have lived, so my prophecy is true already."

She does laugh then; and with a twist of fear in her stomach, she realizes that she is going to say yes.

"You cannot tell anyone," she says.

"How could I dare to boast of it," he says, "when you have seen my face as well? — Rosamund Hodge

Study the sky but never love it," Father had told Astraia and me a thousand times. "It is our prison and the symbol of our captor. — Rosamund Hodge

Do you think he would dare half as much for your love as I have?"
"No," she said. "He never could. That's why I love him."
"You were desperate for me."
"Desperate. Not happy." For the first time in all the years she had known him, she truly pitied him. "You can never, ever make me happy. My heart will never rest in you. — Rosamund Hodge

People who want to be loved", I say, "always do the most idiotic things ... — Rosamund Hodge

Water is born from the death of air, earth from the death of water, fire from the death of earth, air from the death of fire. — Rosamund Hodge

What they want, of course, isn't what you can give them. What you're selling is the hope you can. — Rosamund Hodge

I didn't love you," he says. "At least, I didn't know it. I thought you were - lovely, and honest, and the only wife I could possibly respect. But you were right, I didn't love you. I just thought you were an escape. And then I lost you. These past four days, when I thought you gone forever? Every book I read, I wondered what you'd think of it. Every idea I had, I wanted to ask your opinion. Every breath I took, I listened for your breathing beside me. Then I knew what you meant to me, and what you could have been to me. And then I fell in love with you. — Rosamund Hodge

Don't worry," I say. "I have no interest in discussing your broken heart. — Rosamund Hodge

Sometimes abiding is more important than doing. — Rosamund Hodge

Ou always have to choose between the path of needles and the path of pins. When a dress is torn, you know, you can just pin it up, or you can take the time to sew it together. That's what it means. The quick and easy way or the painful way that works. — Rosamund Hodge

But she would have to wait until there were not a hundred people crowded into the room. — Rosamund Hodge