Itโs been me all along,โ said September slowly. โMe who gave up my shadow, me who went down into Fairyland-Below and Fairyland-Lower-Than-That to wake up the Prince. Me who shot the poor Minotaur. You oughtnโt just hand the whole business over the moment a Prince comes on the scene. Iโve got to see it through, donโt you see? The Hollow Queen is hollow because sheโs missing the part of her thatโs me. Weโve got to come together again. And he canโt do a thing about that.
Catherynne M. ValenteYou look like a winter night", he had told her when he had given it to her. "I could sleep inside the cold of you".
Catherynne M. ValenteIt is such hard work to keep your heart hidden! And worse, by the time you find it easy, it will be harder still to show it. It is a terrible magic in this world to ask for exactly the thing you want. Not least because to know exactly the thing you want and look it in the eye is a long, long labor.
Catherynne M. ValenteWe all have someone we think shines so much more than we do that we are not even a moon to their sun, but a dead little rock floating in space next to their gold and their blaze.
Catherynne M. ValenteThe rapt pupil will be forgiven for assuming the Tsar of Death to be wicked and the Tsar of Life to be virtuous. Let the truth be told: There is no virtue anywhere. Life is sly and unscrupulous, a blackguard, wolfish, severe. In service to itself, it will commit any offense. So, too, is Death possessed of infinite strategies and a gaunt nature- but also mercy, also grace and tenderness. In his own country, Death can be kind.
Catherynne M. Valente