Nicholas And Alexandra Quotes & Sayings

Having actually read the Voltaire in question, I can confirm the quote is, as different from ours as the breed of spaniels is from that of greyhounds," Nicholas said coldly. "Interesting, though, that in the end we're all just dogs. — Alexandra Bracken

Good ideas had in the dark were generally best left there. — Alexandra Bracken

With tears in her eyes, Alexandra assured him that the husband and father was infinitely more precious to her than the tsar whose throne she had shared. Nicholas finally broke. Laying his head on his wife's breast, he sobbed like a child. — Robert K. Massie

Half the men worship at her feet; the other half have already proposed marriage, including young Jack, who has sworn to his dear 'miss' that he'll be true if she'll only wait a few more years for him. — Alexandra Bracken

He turned his mind back to another unwelcome task: mentally composing his letter to Chase. Dear friend, you were right. I'll be very late seemed too short, and would give his friend far too much to crow about; but I must venture through time with the pirate queen would be met with confusion, and fear for Nicholas's mind. — Alexandra Bracken

Nicholas wondered briefly if it was his destiny to be surrounded by women possessing varying degrees of murderous intent. — Alexandra Bracken

Nicholas had not seen such a look of unwelcome surprise on his captain's face since the time their former cook announced he had served the crew stewed rat instead of salted beef. — Alexandra Bracken

Stop trying to make me feel better," Sophia ordered. "It won't work. I'm determined to be angry and guilty about this for at least another two days, and then again when I'm punching your corpse. — Alexandra Bracken

His presence was larger-than-life, bigger even than his physical body. — Alexandra Bracken

As far as Nicholas was concerned, half-truths only added up to a whole lie. Glancing — Alexandra Bracken

That's beautiful," she said.
He turned to her. "Would you like me to go take that violin for you? I'd gladly fight whatever angry mob rises up if it might make you smile."
Her heart just about burst at that. Be brave. "I would only want to play for you. — Alexandra Bracken

Nicholas felt a peculiar sort of envy for his past self, the young man who still existed outside of the barbed knot of time. The one who had not yet been crushed into dust. — Alexandra Bracken

Nicholas felt a rueful smile spread across his face. And a curse be on him for it, because now he knew her. She'd shown him her mind, and she'd opened up her heart, and now he knew the taste of her tears. And he was wrecked. — Alexandra Bracken

Tell me . . . just one thing . . . about your time?' he managed to get out.
'Of course,' Etta said.
'Do you remember . . . that couple in London, in the station?'
'The ones who were dancing?' she asked. 'What about them?'
'Would we . . . be able to dance . . . that way?' he said, finding it harder to catch his breath. 'In your time?'
Etta pressed her lips together, clearly fighting to offer him a smile. 'Yes.'
'Though so. — Alexandra Bracken

How do you think I'd look on one of these temples?"
Etta laughed. "How would I look?"
"I couldn't bare the thought of even your face here, left alone, for only the jungle to admire." He shook his head. "Never. I'd never allow it. The only thing is to hire an artist to turn you into a figurehead for a ship, so some part of you will always be venturing out to sea where you belong. — Alexandra Bracken

Etta?" Nicholas's face floated in front of hers.
"I'm okay," she promised. "Just ... "
Hasan's face transformed, sharpening. "Who are you to be so familiar with my little niece? Remove your hands before I do."
"Familiar?" she repeated, just as Nicholas's grip tightened and he said, "Her husband."
Etta choked. — Alexandra Bracken

What good is honour when greed eats away at it's foundations? — Alexandra Bracken

Nicholas eased back from her, wondering if this was what death would feel like - the painful release. He had envisioned it so many times as wading out into dark, cool water, letting it rise past his hips, his shoulders, his head. This was a breaking, a thunderclap of agony. How short a person's life was, but how very many times they were asked to die inside. — Alexandra Bracken

I reread 'Nicholas and Alexandra' in my early twenties, and I never forgot the story. — Kathryn Harrison

All I hear are Satan's hammers and the war drums of hell, thank you. — Alexandra Bracken

Oh my God you are despicable!" Etta snarled.
"Careful, madam, blasphemy is still a sin-"
Even if Nicholas had been the gambling sort, he never would have wagered a single coin on her next words being "Then I guess I'll see you in hell! — Alexandra Bracken

Curse my clumsy tongue," Wren said, raising a glass in a mocking salute.

Nicholas raised his own. "Thankfully, you have a sparkling imagination to make up for it. — Alexandra Bracken

When making his music, he [Elvis Presley] had been the essence of cool, but in his movies he was often a self-parody embarrassing to watch. Colonel Parker, his manager, who had picked movie scrips for him, had served Elvis less well than the monk Rasputin had served Czar Nicholas and Alexandra. — Dean Koontz

I understand. There is the journey you make through the world - the one that aches and sings. We come together with others to make our way and survive its trials," she said. "But we are, all of us, also wayfarers on a greater journey, this one without end, each of us searching for the answers to the unspoken questions of our hearts. Take comfort, as I have, in knowing that, while we must travel it alone, this journey rewards goodness, and will prove that the things which are denied to us in life will never create a cage for our souls." Nicholas — Alexandra Bracken

She set her shoulders back, meeting his gaze with a challenge. "You call that a kiss?" One corner of his mouth quirks up. "We haven't the time for a proper one, pirate. Now tell me, where precisely are we? — Alexandra Bracken

Nicholas began, wondering if he looked half as diabolical as he felt. — Alexandra Bracken

I wish you'd go a a little easier on him," she said.
"He came in here thrashing a sword around. Was I supposed to stand idly by and do nothing?" he huffed.
"Well, you weren't supposed to try and rearrange his face with your fist."
"I wasn't," Nicholas protested. "He lunged up into it several times. I was only in the way."
"You're ridiculous," she informed him. — Alexandra Bracken

Not like you to let someone get that close," Nicholas said, nodding at the cut on his forehead. "Need the surgeon?"

"And be forced to admit that one of this ship's cabin boys caught me unawares with a spoon as I went below? Wicked little bugger. I'd rather be boiled in oil. — Alexandra Bracken

A merchant, then," Nicholas clarified.
Hasan nodded, his smile slightly crooked with the swelling on his face. "It is natural. Abbi brought me many books, taught me many languages. English, Turkish, French, Greek. So you see, I cannot travel in your way, but he has helped me to go far on my own feet. — Alexandra Bracken

Well," Etta said weakly, "she's always told me a good challenge builds character."
"Then we'll have an excess of it," he said dryly. — Alexandra Bracken

I don't need a protector," Etta said. "I need a partner. — Alexandra Bracken

Etta released a soft "Oofph!" as her feet struck the floor, and they were suddenly wrapped in cool, dry air. Nicholas's grip on her hand tightened as the world fell into place around them.

They weren't falling off the side of a cliff. They hadn't been shot dead on sight, run through by sword or bayonet. And they hadn't emerged into a crocodile-filled swamp, or in the middle of a crowded market, or for that matter, in a burning building. So he supposed he should be grateful. But he was mostly exhausted. — Alexandra Bracken

It shouldn't surprise me that men continue to think of grand new ways to kill one another, and with greater precision ... — Alexandra Bracken

You cannot fathom the distance I would travel for you. — Alexandra Bracken

He would not surrender to the disaster of loving her. — Alexandra Bracken

How about a kiss, hey?" Etta liked that she was still able to startle him, just a little. The blank look of concentration broke as he barked out a laugh. "I don't know if that's a wise idea. We'd never leave. — Alexandra Bracken

Rest assured," he said, when he managed to find his voice, "there will always be a position for you on my ship."
Her face brightened with her clever, beautiful smile. "Will you let me climb up into the rigging? Reef the sails?"
A burst of thunder rolled through him. "Absolutely not."
She laughed again. "As if you could stop me. — Alexandra Bracken

When I was eleven, my mother gave me Robert K. Massie's 'Nicholas and Alexandra.' It was the first 'grownup' book I read, and I loved it. — Kathryn Harrison