Froi Quotes & Sayings

Don't look down,' Perabo warned them when they almost reached the top and the view from the archways became imposing.

Froi sensed Perabo was instructing himself more than the others.

'You obviously haven't been imprisoned on the roof of a castle in the Citavita, Perabo,' Lirah said.

'Or hung upside down over a balconette staring down into the gravina, waiting to die,' Gargarin added.

'Nothing worse than being chained to the balconette with your head facing down over that abyss,' Arjuro joined in, not one to be outdone in the misery stakes.

'Try balancing on a piece of granite between the godshouse and the palace with nothing beneath you but air,' Froi said.

Perabo stopped and took a deep breath and looked as if he was going to be sick.

'Don't look down, Perabo,' Froi advised. — Melina Marchetta

Some of us weren't born for rewards, Froi. We were born for sacrifices. — Melina Marchetta

Do I have to be here to belong to you?' Froi asked. 'Can't I belong to you wherever I am? — Melina Marchetta

Froi heard Zabat's voice echo over and over again throughout the gorge. Wonderful. The gods had found a way of multiplying the idiot's voice. — Melina Marchetta

Near the window, Finnikin stood with both hands against the wall, his head bent over her. As always, the intimacy between them made Froi ache.
"I promise you," Finnikin said. "I've already shouted at her and used a very, very reprimanding tone."
"I was quivering," the Queen said, stepping out from behind Finnikin. — Melina Marchetta

Blood!" Froi said, horrified. "Loins? Same loins you stick
"
"Froi!" Trevanion snapped.
"Flowing at times like a gutted pig," Evanjalin said.
"Evanjalin! — Melina Marchetta

But then Froi looked back to where his work lay unfinished and it made him sad because there had been something about the touch of earth in his hands that made him feel worthwhile. — Melina Marchetta

Is your queen what you are searching for in a woman, Froi?"
"I never imagined I was looking for something in a woman. But if I did, I'd have to judge her by the way I felt laying beside her before I went to sleep at night and how I felt in the morning waking up to her."
"Oh, too profound, my friend. Much too profound. — Melina Marchetta

Froi woke to see five faces staring down at him.
"You fainted," Lirah said.
"No, I didn't."
"Yes, you did," Gargarin argued.
"You climbed down well enough, but the moment we touched the ground, you fainted," Finnikin said.
"I've never fainted a day in my life. — Melina Marchetta

She pointed above the little king's crib where a cutout piece of parchment hung from the ceiling. Froi's eyes followed her finger across the ceiling to the wall, where the light from the moon made a shape of a rabbit. — Melina Marchetta

He just watched the way Finnikin's hands rested on Evanjalin's neck and he rubbed his thumb along her jaw and the way his tongue seemed to disappear inside her mouth as if he needed a part of her to breathe himself. — Melina Marchetta

You said to me once that you weren't what I dreamed of. You were right. You surpass everything I dreamed of. Even the rot in you that's caused you to do shameful things. Some men let the rot and guilt fester into something ugly beyond words. Few men can turn it into worth and substance. If you're gods' blessed for no other reason, it's for that. — Melina Marchetta

We could look at the side of wonder,' Gargarin said.
'What?' Froi asked, as if Gargarin had gone insane.
'Well, let's say that instead of losing her, you gave her a chance to escape,' Gargarin explained. 'That's the side of wonder.'
Froi heard a sound behind them and Lirah was there.
'Since when do you look at the side of wonder?' Froi asked.
'I'm trying very hard,' Gargarin said, scowling. 'It's irritating me, but I'm not giving up. I try to think of a wondrous thought every day when I wake, if you'd really like to know. — Melina Marchetta

And then the Charynite last borns were lifting Quintana on their shoulders and the Lumaterans had Froi on theirs, and she was laughing and he thought he'd never seen her look so beautiful. And over everyone's heads, Froi could see Gargarin and Arjuro staring up at her with their bittersweet smiles, and Froi imagined two boys with the same face all those years ago in a filthy cave beneath the swamps of Abroi, praying for a better life. — Melina Marchetta

Arjuro made a scoffing sound. 'You think Lumatere will invade because of you? Are you that important?'

Froi looked away. 'Isaboe would invade if you kidnapped a servant, let alone a friend.'

'Isaboe? We're on first-name terms with the Queen of Lumatere, are we?' Gargarin asked.

Froi found himself bristling. 'What? Do you think I'm some cutthroat for hire who they found hanging around the palace walls with the words "I want
to kill a Charynite King" tattooed on my arse? — Melina Marchetta

Part of Quintana had left this world and Froi knew that part of him was gone as well. — Melina Marchetta

Froi fell in love. He didn't want to. Not with a Charyn city. But he did because people didn't stand around in Paladozza and stare suspiciously, They sat around and spoke to each other and laughed. — Melina Marchetta

He watched as Finnikin swung onto the horse, his sleeve stained with blood. Froi liked the way Finnikin reached behind him and took Evanjalin's hand, placing it around his waist. It made everything seem normal because Finnikin always wanted to touch her. — Melina Marchetta

But what if I don't?" she argued. "I don't know him. How can I love one that I don't know? I'm frightened to see him. I've never seen a little creature. How will I know he's not all wrong?"
"And if he is all wrong, what will you do?" Froi had asked.
She thought for a moment. "I'll hold him tight and tell him that we'll be wrong for this world together. — Melina Marchetta

It was that he knew that voice, had dreamed it over and over again in a lifetime of rot and misery, and Froi wanted to weep. For he knew he would break his bond to his queen not just with his body but also with his heart. — Melina Marchetta

My lord," Froi heard Dorcas call out from the battlement above.

"Yes, Dorcas."

"You're going to have to cover his head. He'll catch a chill. Fekra made him a cap."

"Thank you, Dorcas. — Melina Marchetta

Why question what Froi of Lumatere was doing here?' he asked.' When you should be questioning what would have happened to Charyn if he hadn't been here. Who else would have saved Gargarin of Abroi from the street lords? ... 'Who would have saved Quintana of Charyn from hanging? Who would have rescued her from Tariq of Lascow's compound? Who would have sent her to a safe place to birth the cursebreaker? Blah, blah, blah. I'm bored now,' Finnikin said, looking around. — Melina Marchetta

As Froi crossed this icy tomb, it occurred to him that he might never see Lord August and Lady Abian again. That he had never told them the truth. Finn and Isaboe had taught him to love, but the village of Sayles had taught him to belong. — Melina Marchetta

Land?' Froi whispered. 'You're giving them land? I'm not worth the valley.'
'You're worth a kingdom,' Finnikin said, turning back to the crowd. — Melina Marchetta

Don't let them take away our little king, Froi. Not the Avanosh people or Bestiano. I'm begging you, Froi." That she had to speak the words broke something inside of him. "I will protect you," he whispered. "I will never let anything happen to you or our child. — Melina Marchetta

I fear that I will do something to bring harm to those I love," Froi said. "So I follow their rules to ensure that I won't."
"But what if you bring harm or fail to protect those you don't know? Or don't love? Will you care as much?"
"Probably not."
"Then choose another bond. One written by yourself. Because it is what you do for strangers that counts in the end. — Melina Marchetta

But it was Finnikin he tried not to look at, except her heard something come from him that sound like some wild animal and then Finnikin said her name and as long as Froi was alive he had never heard a word said with such pain and he knew he never would again. — Melina Marchetta

He took her face in his bloody hands. I'll come and find you wherever you are. I'll not stop breathing until I do. So you're going to have to promise me that you won't lose hope. That you will keep yourself alive. — Melina Marchetta

They camped that night under a full moon and a sky crowded with stars that made Froi forget that there was an old man waiting to die and remember that there was a kingdom dying to live. — Melina Marchetta

You are mistaking me for someone with choices, Froi. I don't have choices. — Melina Marchetta

If Froi understood anything, it was that in this world one's worth came from others. — Melina Marchetta

The king's very simple cousin, for example, pointed out that the tower Froi could see from where he was standing was the prison and currently held only one prisoner. "The rest of the the scum are kept in dungeons close to the bridge of the Citavita," the man explained.
"And the king?" Froi asked.
"We try not to refer to him as scum out loud," the man whispered. — Melina Marchetta

Froi thought for a moment. I never imagined I was looking for something in a woman. But if I did, I'd have to judge her by the way I felt lying beside her before I went to sleep at night and how I felt in the morning waking up to her. — Melina Marchetta

Froi saw the foolishness of dreamers, and he decided he'd like to die so foolish. With a dream in his heart about the possibilities, rather than a chain of hopelessness. — Melina Marchetta

But Froi looked around with wonder.
As if he had never seen the world from up so high before. — Melina Marchetta

Are you calling us pigs?' Froi asked, watching as Rafuel winced for the tenth time at the formality of Froi's Charyn.Rafuel thought for a moment and then nodded.'Actually yes, I am. Pig-like.'Froi turned back to Trevanion and Perri, who were discussing the need for longbow training in the rock village.'What is it?' Perri asked Froi.'He said we eat like pigs.'Trevanion and Perri thought about it for a moment and then went back to their conversation. — Melina Marchetta

Why are you smiling?' Gargarin asked Froi, from across the balconette. 'When you're going to have to learn a lesson in diplomacy today and choose between the gardens of two women?'
Froi laughed, his chin resting on Quintana's head, his eyes taking in the joy of his son, despite the ridiculous cap that covered the babe's head. He looked across at Lirah and Arjuro and Rafuel, and then back to Gargarin who was smiling himself, because he knew the answer to his own question.
'Because today, I think I'm leaning on the side of wonder. — Melina Marchetta

When they began their ascent, Froi heard the beauty of the Priestking's voice across the land, and the song inside Froi that he refused to sing, ached to be let loose. What had frightened him most about Rafuel of Sebastabol was that his stories had made Froi's blood dance. They had given him a restlessness. A need to be elsewhere to search for a part of himself that was lost. But what he feared was that the search to find answers would take him away from this land of light. That once he left, he would never find his way back home. — Melina Marchetta

Most times he knew there was no hope for Arjuro and Gargarin and Lirah and De Lancey. Too much pain in the past and too much power working against them in the present day. But as he watched Arjuro prop up De Lancey to better remove the arrow, Froi saw the foolishness of dreamers, and he decided he'd like to die so foolish. With a dream in his heart about possibilities rather than a chain of hopelessness. Finnikin had once said that was the only way to live. That he wanted to drown in hope rather than wallow in despair. — Melina Marchetta

If he goes for my nose again, I fink I'll hang him up by his little balls,' one of the Guard said, getting to his feet. Froi tried to ignore the mockery.
'Nothing little about me,' he grunted. 'Don't take my word for it, Hindley. Ask your wife. She seemed happy last night, you know, with the size and all. — Melina Marchetta

I've been waiting for you all night and day,' she said.
Froi shivered. He realised that the words came from Quintana the ice maiden. Realised, as he felt his face heating up, that the idea of this Quintana waiting for him with excitement spoke to parts of him he believed to be dormant. And then she winked.
'Did I do that right?' she asked. Her smile was lopsided and he saw a glimpse of the teeth.
And Froi imagined that he would follow her to the ends of the earth. — Melina Marchetta

A kiss is the prize?' he asked sadly. 'Even more than giving me the rest of you? It should be the other way round, Princess. In the real world, it's called courting. You let a lad kiss you and then you offer him more.'

'Let me tell you something, Olivier,' she said with tears of sorrow in her eyes, 'this is my real world. — Melina Marchetta

And it was this image that was stamped on the hearts and minds of all who were present that day. Of Froi of the Exiles holding the future of Lumatere in his hands. — Melina Marchetta

Froi noticed that she said "carrying mine," not "carrying you." Lirah and Gargarin still had not acknowledged him as theirs, and he realized that he wanted more from them than they were willing to give. But they seemed broken people who were not good with words, so he kept his silence. — Melina Marchetta

Brothers always. Balthazar is with us too. We make this work,' Finnikin said fiercely. 'We bring peace to these kingdoms. We deserve it. Our women do. All of us have lost too much, Froi. We've lost the joy of being children. Let's not take that from Jasmina and Tariq and those who come after them — Melina Marchetta

I remember on the day I was separated from Froi outside the Paladazzo, I learned that I could be loved. That was his greatest gift to me. From you, I learned that I could love my people. Don't ever underestimate the power of that. — Melina Marchetta

You can't go around feeling too much", Captain Travanion had explained watching a moment to ensure the man was indeed dead. "Because if you feel too much, enough to want to kill them so savagely then one day you are going to feel enough to spare their lives. — Melina Marchetta

Froi slipped off Finnikin's horse, quietly looking up at him and then the others before turning in the direction Evanjalin had taken. He removed his bedroll from the saddle and placed it on his shoulder.

"She and me? We the same in some fings. We live. The others, those orphan kids, they dead. Because she and me, we want to live and we do anyfing to make that happen. That's the difference between us and others. I seen them. I seen Lumaterans die, and you know what I do to live? Anyfing. Do you hear me? I do anyfing. Just like her."

Froi turned and followed Evanjalin, and this time it seemed he understood exactly which path he was taking. — Melina Marchetta

Froi didn't know where home was anymore. He wanted to return to Lumatere, and he wanted to stay in Charyn. What strangeness was that? To belong in two kingdoms. He felt a sob rise within him that he swallowed hard the moment he felt Lirah and Gargarin at his shoulders. — Melina Marchetta

He held up the ring and the light from the rising sun caught the stone and Froi thought he had never seen anything so beautiful. It was the ring that had given him a life he could never have imagined. It was all things magnificent about Lumatere. — Melina Marchetta

Because I remembered your words," she said quietly. "I remembered that you liked me least. You said it in my palace chamber. 'Have one of the others wake me, for I like you least.'" She turned to face him and brushed tears fiercely from her face. "Sometimes when I see what's left of Quintana of Charyn through my own eyes, I think I can learn to love her. But when I see her through your eyes, I despise her." If she saw Quintana of Charyn through Froi's eyes, he knew she'd see a part of himself. — Melina Marchetta

In his time since Sarnak, Froi had come to learn as much about the power of silence as the power of words. — Melina Marchetta

Finnikin's head was bent low over the horse and he kicked its flanks hard and Froi had never clutched the body of one who felt so much but it reminded him of the time when he had tried to take Evanjalin in the barn. Both times the touch of their bodies had burned him, but this time something entered his bloodstream. Planted a seed. — Melina Marchetta