It’s been me all along,” said September slowly. “Me 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 oughtn’t just hand the whole business over the moment a Prince comes on the scene. I’ve got to see it through, don’t you see? The Hollow Queen is hollow because she’s missing the part of her that’s me. We’ve got to come together again. And he can’t do a thing about that.

Oh, but Masha, can’t you see? You are. An Ivan has come. That is like saying, Midnight has struck. It is time for bed, little one. You cannot have both. In war you must always choose sides. One or the other. Silver or black. Human or demon. If you try to be a bridge laid down between them, they will tear you in half.

Never put your faith in a Prince. When you require a miracle, trust in a Witch.

Death stands behind every bride, every groom.

When the world changes, it stashes us away where we can't make it run the other way again.

I burn, I freeze; I am never warm. I am rigid; I forgot softness because it did not serve me.

Fierce was her needle, and she wore it like a sword.