Цитаты из книги Ember

Любовь – это огонь, Эмбер. Присматривай за ним, или он сожжет тебя. Поддерживай его, или он угаснет, а ты останешься в холоде.

I once heard a tale of a princess who slept on a hundred featherbeds but was kept awake by a single pebble caught beneath the bottom mattress. Her servants grew so annoyed by her constant complaints that one night they pushed her from her mountain of mattresses, and she broke her neck and died.

Running a whorehouse was surprisingly good training for running a government.

Ведение публичного дома было удивительно хорошей тренировкой для управления государством.

Love is a fire, Ember. Tend it, or it will burn you. Feed it, or it will die and leave you cold.

— Иногда нужно немножко солгать, чтобы сохранить свою гордость. — Она пригвоздила меня жестким взглядом. — А иногда необходима большая ложь, чтобы спасти свою душу.

Choices and change require sacrifice.

"Sometimes, we need little lies to save our pride." She pinned me with a hard stare. "And sometimes we need big lies to save our souls."

Words weave a spell, betimes. They create images in our minds that heat our loins and sway our souls.

"I think I've heard another version of the tale. One with a different villain and a happier ending." "Oh, this one has a happy ending, too," I answered, smiling despite the ache in my head. "It does?" "Yes. The greedy children were later eaten by bears." He wiped his brow. "What a relief."

Ведьма, которая чурается шлюх и куртизанок, останется нищей.

. — Я годами ждал тебя. — Ты преувеличиваешь. Мы не виделись всего лишь четыре недели. — М-м-м. — Он прижал меня к стене летней кухни и вошел одним точным, чудесным толчком. — Мне плевать, что говорит календарь, разлука была слишком долгой.

Разве не проще и куда приятнее простить мужчину, которого любишь, и провести вместе всю жизнь, чем разочароваться в нем и пытаться прожить без него?

Lovemaking is their holy communion wherein they worship with both soul and flesh.

“He likely thought he was doing her an honor. And besides, he did it for the love of her.”   “His intentions do not change the results of his actions, nor the fact that he forced the fate upon her.”   “No,” Minette agreed, “but it is the argument Sylvie will use as an excuse to forgive him.”

Some would say it is madness to want a woman this way, but I think it must be love. Not the tepid, fickle love of which the poets sing — the love that forms or fades with kindness or cruelty. No, this love is something more divine — like the love of a god, both vengeful and benign. It is as constant as the sea. And as beautiful. As dangerous. As mysterious.