Quotes by Celia McMahon

I can pick a liar from a lineup of thieves and slanderers: the best of the best. I was hoping you would not resist the information we need but I must ask you now to answer my question truthfully and to choose your next words wisely. What does the key open?

You have such faith,” he tells me. “Let it be bigger than your fears.

Since the beginning of time there was always stories like this,” he replies. “As children we reveled in the dream that there was a place out there that was different from the one we lived in.

My dear cousin means the world to me. He is my only ally and I lost him. Deep in my heart I know he didn’t want to blame me but his heart is set on that training and I had been beginning to think that took priority over family. I hope he would see reason but I cant not blame him if he doesnt. Breaking free from this castle is a dream not only held by me.But I cant imagine having to reason with someone who stole your future.

I have my own. I dont believe in religion, just as you mentioned. I think it does more harm than good. Believers see it as the one truth, non believers see it as trash and kings use it for power. Not one of them is right.

Grin is still beside me. His arms are hung tightly as his side and I take his hand. It is like touching stone and he turns stiffly toward me as we begin making our way back to where Rosso had camped the horses. We are both quiet but I know we were both thinking the same thing. That we wish we were out there and that we wish this wasnt happening at the same time. I suddenly feel the need to apologize to him too. It is because of me that his father and brothers are in this situation but that was their choice. When he looks at me, I can see forgiveness in his eyes. Neither of us have to speak to understand and neither of us look back at the people we leave behind.

Just as I had done, my father sleeps off and on for days. Sometimes I sit by the bed in Martas house and stare at him until I feel like it isnt a dream anymore. Sometimes Jimmi joins me and sometimes, when Im alone I weep and I am not sure why. Maybe its because of everything I had been through to get to this point or maybe it was for everything I had lost. Part of me thinks that I should be glad for all of the things I had gained.But the hero doesnt get the reward. The hero pays the price. As it is in every story.

You know when it comes to who should govern themselves, we have old people talking around tables,” Jimmi says. “When you throw religion into the mix, you have a whole new set of problems. You cant say one has nothing to do with the other because that is simply not true. You have to change the government before we set religious freedoms. People like Firo and Clavis, they just dont want to suppress people. They want wealth and power. Its hard to find those who dont.

The darkness is no place to be in times like this.

I think, actually I know that its overwhelmingly possible for men to conduct such atrocities as to kill a man in cold blood, to burn towns and to parade with the the dead on the tips of their swords. People who think they are doing something for the good of all are the most dangerous and stirs their intent deeper. There might have been a time when I thought differently and I would have answered with a quick no but that time had long passed. Do I think its in human nature to be violent and to succumb to it? Sure I do. Its to justify it, that I think is inhuman.

A book, child. A book just for you, in a lost language.

I believe that we should all be free to believe what we want and not be condemned for it,” I say without a thought. “I believe in a higher power and that it works within us. Whatever the name doesnt matter, its the thought behind it that matters. Its the way we live our lives that matter and as long as I believe that there is someone in the sky there to protect us, no one here will ever break me.

..and she a star, to outshine all the suns of mans days.

The way he moves-a singular motion with such ease-put me in awe. He takes down one, two and then three without even bending his back. Knocking down a man so gracefully was nothing I had ever seen before and this red dance drew me in as it did the others around him. He could have easily killed those men. This is a man who has control over himself. This is the kind of man I need.

Jimmi manages a laugh that makes my skin crawl. “Do you really think what you read in those books is true? Sure, some of it may be but have you ever actually paid attention to it? Its all false set upon us as truth. You cant coat something with lies and intend it to go away. Its asinine and lackluster at best.

Why would they lie to us?”“Because deep down, were all afraid of having peace. Because deep down we know were all poisoned. Were more afraid of ourselves than we are of others. In that thinking, we deny ourselves the very power that we could have. In that thinking, we put liars on pedestals. Then, when the time is right they proclaim their lies as truth and revel in it as if they did something truly righteous and people will fall to their knees because we never learn if our mistakes are never admitted and cataloged. What better way to destroy a person than to make them realize that everything they ever believed was wrong?

Everyone is good at heart. We all do things with the greatest of intentions and most of the time we do it for selfish reasons. Myself included.

Now go. Leaving quickly is the best thing you can do. Dont think about it, dont look back, and dont think that whats behind you is better than whats in front because its not. Not in the very least, Hannah.

I can hear birds singing but they dont sound at all like the birds I knew. These are mocking and possessed. I imagine they have deformed bodies with glowing eyes, leading the wagon to my own personal damnation. All my wishes and all my draining prayers havent brought me home. They are bringing me to the one place I sought to be and the one place I wanted to far from.

Its irresponsible to think things are just going to work out because you believe things happen for a reason. I refuse to accept these things. I refuse to give in to that absurdity. You saw what happened in Lucille and you lived with Col all those years. You know the suffering they went through. Even this place. There are so many empty houses yet so many homeless. Society is breaking. The kingdoms are failing them.