Kiera Cass

“America Singer, llegará el día en que te duermas entre mis brazos cada noche. El día en que te despierte con mis besos cada mañana”

“Do you think, that I could still call you 'my dear'?”

“If this were a simpler matter, I'd have eliminated everyone else by now.”

“He let you have the pants anyway?" she asked. I had started talking about Maxon as soon as I could, eager to know how their conversation had gone."Yeah. He was very generous about it all.""I think it's charming that he's a good winner.""He is a good winner. He's even gracious when he's gotten the raw end of things." Like a knee to the royal jewels, for example.”

“The Selection was no longer something that was simply happening to me, but something I was actively a part of. I was an Elite.”

“No, I’m not choosing him or you. I’m choosing me.”

“Castes never meant that much to me.”

“He reached up and tugged his ear. And I did the same.”

“Need someone to talk to? I could tug my ear right now.”

“The Swendish queen— whose name I couldn’t pronounce to save my life.”

“Yes, Maxon," I whispered. "It’s possible.”

“I can’t help it." I sighed. "One can never help being born into perfection.”

“You’re too beautiful for your own good. Once you leave, we’ll have to send some of the guards with you. You’ll never survive on your own, poor thing.”

“If you don’t want me to be in love with you, you’re going to have to stop looking so lovely. First thing tomorrow I’m having your maids sew some potato sacks together for you.”

“Great. Now the queen thought I was a misfit, too.”

“No wonder I’d never had any friends. I was shockingly bad at it.”

“Your Majesty—Tugging my ear. Whenever.”

“History isn’t something you study. It’s something you should just know.”

“if you like the lovable sound of an asthma attack in your ear every time you tell a joke.”

“Is this a good time to pat your shoulder?”

“So, buddy…”

“I should have known that if any girl was going to disobey an order, it would be you.”

“I hit your thigh!”“Oh, please. A man doesn’t need that long to recover from a knee to the thigh.”

“You get confused by crying women, I get confused by walks with princes.”

“Just that. Your family must be very different from mine.""I’d say so." I laughed. "For one, no one wears their tiaras to breakfast."Maxon smiled. "More of a dinner thing at the Singer house?”“Of course.”

“Yeah, Mom, I’ll just keep telling the prince that he has absolutely no shot with me and offend him as often as I can. Great plan.”

“P.S. May, don’t these strawberry tarts just make you want to cry?”

“I’ve met nearly every woman in this room, and I can’t think of one who would make a better friend. I’d be glad to have you stay."My relief was inexpressible."Do you think," Maxon asked, "That I could still call you ‘my dear’?" "Not a chance." I whispered.”

“I let myself be sad. I let myself think of him.”

“I guessed princesses-in-training didn’t wear pants.”

“I thought about the cameras following me in the terminal and pictured my family watching my entrance on TV. I hoped they’d be proud.”

“She couldn’t have been more than twelve years old. In her hands was a sign that said RED-HEADS RULE! with a little crown painted in the corner and tiny stars everywhere. I knew I was the only redhead in the competition, and I noticed that her hair and mine were very nearly the same shade.”

“So here I was expecting at the very best a cordial welcome from the girls who were prepared to fight me to the death for someone I didn’t want. Instead I was embraced.”

“He wasn’t allowed to come with me there—my own rule for thislittle adventure.No more.Good-bye, Aspen.”

“Listen to me, kitten. Win or lose, you’ll always be a princess to me.”

“And Carolina will be cheering on the beautiful daughter of Magda and Shalom Singer, the new Lady America Singer!”

“My shoes I got to pick. I chose worn-out red flats. I figured I should make it clear from the start that I wasn’t princess material.”

“I had to stop myself from laughing. Who needs help taking a pill?”

“The picture of me just after I’d found out Aspen was saving up to marry me. I looked radiant, hopeful, beautiful. I looked like I was in love. And some idiot thought that love was for Prince Maxon.”

“I don’t think any girl in all of Illéa could have been smiling more than me.”

“She must have been debating staying in the line or forcing me to run home and change.”

“So far, I had a solid collection of my honest opinions…”

“I'm to old for this”

“One can never help being born into perfection.”

“America Singer, one day you will fall asleep in my arms every night. And you'll wake up to my kisses every morning.”

“Oh, yes. She’s still here,” Maxon said, not letting his eyes wander from Gavril’s face. “And I plan on keeping her here for quite a while.”

“He gave a dark chuckle. “But you’re not, so you had absolutely no qualms about kneeing me in the groin, right?”“I hit your thigh!”“Oh, please. A man doesn’t need that long to recover from a knee to the thigh,” he replied, his voice full of skepticism.”

“But you should know the love can wear away under the stress of being married. Someone you think you love now, you might start to hate when he couldn't take care of your children, it'd be even worse. Love doesn't always survive under those circumstances.”

“Mom was bossy. Even in print I could hear her tone, smugly congratulating me on already earning the prince's affections and telling me firmly to keep up whatever I was doing.Yeah, Mom, I'll just keep telling the prince that he has absolutely no shot with me and offend him as often as I can. Great plan.”

“Maxon lowered his lips to mine and gave me the faintest whisper of a kiss.Something about the tentativeness of it made me feel beautiful. Without a word, I could understand how excited he was to have this moment, but then afraid at the same time. And deeper than any of that, I sensed that he adored me.So this is what it felt like to be a lady.”