1
It’s against the rules of humanity to believe there is nothing we can do.Melina Marchetta
2
Sir Topher finally looked up. “Because any hope beyond that, my boy, would be too much. I feared we would drown in it.”" Then I choose to drown, ” Finnikin said. “In hope. Rather than float into nothing.Melina Marchetta
3
Then I choose to drown. In hope. Rather than float into nothing.Melina Marchetta
4
He hesitated, remembering something Finnikin had said to him on their journey. That somehow, even in the worst of times, the tiniest fragments of good survive. It was the grip in which one held those fragments that counted.Melina Marchetta
5
Today this courtyard was filled with great warriors. What is more? But it was not filled with great men who have the heart to rule a kingdom. Any man can kill, Finnikin. It is a stroke, an action with one's hand. But not every man knows how to lead.Melina Marchetta
6
It's against the rules of humanity to believe there is nothing we can do.Melina Marchetta
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How unladylike of you to mention such a thing.Melina Marchetta
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People divulge things to you that they would not divulge to anyone else.Melina Marchetta
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Do not cry, ” she said fiercely, but her own tears flowed. “Do not cry, Finnikin. For if we begin, our tears will never end.Melina Marchetta
10
The gods do make playthings of us. But it is we mortals who provide them with tools.Melina Marchetta
11
Because without our language, we have lost ourselves. Who are we without our words?Melina Marchetta
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We have a dilemma, then, ” Finnikin said fiercely. “Because I prayed that you would grow old and hold my children in your arms as you held me. My prayers have not been answered yet, Trevanion. So whose prayer is more worthy? Yours or mine?Melina Marchetta
13
When one is silent, those around speak even more, my lord.Melina Marchetta
14
If there was one weapon he had against these savages, it was not acknowledging their existence.Melina Marchetta
15
Somehow, even in the worst of times, the tiniest fragments of good survive. It was the grip in which one held those fragments that counted.Melina Marchetta
16
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
17
As he left Yata’s home that morning, he knew that a part of his life was complete and that whatever path he chose, he would experience the ache of unfulfilled dreams. For a moment he allowed himself to feel regret at the thought of never building a cottage by the river with Trevanion. Or living the life of a simple farmer connected to the earth. Or traveling his kingdom, satisfying the nomad he had become. To be Finnikin of the Rock and the Monts and the River and the Flatlands and the Forest. To be none of those at all. Yet he also knew that to lose her to another man would be a slow torture every day for the rest of his life. .Melina Marchetta
18
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
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But Froi looked around with wonder. As if he had never seen the world from up so high before.Melina Marchetta
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The gods whispered to you once, Finnikin. And you listened. But they are proud and refuse to speak to those who do not believe that there is something out there mightier than the minds and intellect of mortals.Melina Marchetta
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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 the others.Melina Marchetta
22
One of Sir Topher's rules was to never indulge in sentimentality, never return for what was left behind.Melina Marchetta