Genya Quotes

If this stains my teeth orange - " said Zoya.
"It will," interrupted Genya, "but I promise to put your teeth back whiter than they were before. I may even fix those weird incisors of yours."
"There is nothing wrong with my teeth."
"Not at all," said Genya soothingly. "You're the prettiest walrus I know. I'm just amazed you haven't sawed through your lower lip."
"Keep your hands off me, Tailor," Zoya grumbled, "or I'll poke your other eye out. ~ Leigh Bardugo

I poisoned my skin," Genya said harshly, "my lips. So that every time he touched me-" She shuddered slightly and glanced at David. "Every time he kissed me, he took sickness into his body." She clenched her fists. "He brought this on himself."
"But the poison would have affected you too," Nikolai said.
"I had to purge it from my skin, then heal the burns the lye would leave. Every single time." Her fists clenched. "It was well worth it."
Nikolai rubbed a hand over his mouth. "Did he force you?"
Genya nodded once. A muscle in Nikolai's jaw ticked. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Inej nodded. "I gave your letter to the guard at the door, and it did the trick. They brought me directly to two members of the Triumvirate."
"Who did you meet with?" said Kaz.
"Genya Safin and Zoya Nazyalensky."
Wylan sat forward. "The Tailor? She's at the embassy?"
Kaz raised a brow. "What an interesting fact to forget to mention, Nina."
"It wasn't relevant at the time."
"Of course it's relevant!" Wylan said angrily.
Jesper was a little surprised. Wylan hadn't seemed to mind wearing Kuwei's features at first. He'd almost seemed to welcome the distance it gave him from his father. But that had been before they'd gone to Saint Hilde. And before Jesper had kissed Kuwei. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Once it builds up in the victim's system, a threshold is reached, the organs begin to fail, and the degeneration is irreversible. It's not a killer. It's a thief. It steals years. And he will never get them back.
I felt a little chill at the satisfaction in her voice. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Slowly, Genya stood, and silence fell around her. "How old are you, Yuri ?"

"Eighteen, moi soverenyi"

"When i was a year older than you, the Darkling set his mosnters on me, creatures born of the power you venerate so much. They had a taste for human flesh. He had to force them to stop."

"Then he was not so cruel-"

Genya held up a hand, and Nikolai was glad to see Yuri shut is mouth. "The Darkling didn't want me to die. He wante me to live - like this."

"More fool of him,"sais Nikolai quietly, "to let such soldier survive. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Zoya placed her hands on her hips. "Is anyone going to thank me - or Genya, for that matter - for this little miracle?"
"Thank you for nearly killing and then reviving the most valuable hostage in the world so you could use him for your own gain," Kaz said. "Now you need to go. The streets are almost empty, and you need to get to the manufacturing district."
Zoya's beautiful blue eyes slitted. "Show your face in Ravka, Brekker. We'll teach you some manners."
"I'll keep that in mind. When they burn me on the Reaper's Barge, I definitely want to be remembered as polite. ~ Leigh Bardugo

David knew we were meeting in the Kettle," said Genya," and he guessed about the master flue."
David frowned. "I don't guess. ~ Leigh Bardugo

You're the boy Nina tailored to look like Kuwei," Genya said. "And you want me to try to undo her work?"
"Yes," Wylan said, that one word imbued with a whole world of hope. "But I don't have anything to bargain with."
Genya rolled her single amber eye. "Why are the Kerch so focused on money?"
"Says the woman with a bankrupt country," murmured Jesper.
"What was that?" snapped Zoya.
"Nothing," said Jesper. "Just saying Kerch is a morally bankrupt country."
Zoya looked him up and down as if she was considering tossing him into a pool and boiling him alive. "If you want to waste your time and talent on these wretches, feel free. Saints know there's room for improvement."
"Zoya - "
"I'm going to go find a dark room with a deep pool and try to wash some of this country off. ~ Leigh Bardugo

If this stains my teeth orange - "
"It will, but I promise to put your teeth back whiter than they were before. I may even fix those weird incisors of yours."
"There is nothing wrong with my teeth."
"Not at all. You're the prettiest walrus I know. I'm just amazed you haven't sawed through your lower lip. ~ Leigh Bardugo

We told the Grisha to come alone," said Kaz.
"I'm afraid that wasn't possible," said the man. "Though Zoya is, of course, a force to be reckoned with, Genya's extraordinary gifts are ill-suited to physical confrontation. I, on the other hand, am well suited to all forms of confrontation, though I'm particularly fond of the physical."
Kaz's eyes narrowed. "Sturmhond."
"He knows me!" Sturmhond said delightedly. He nudged Genya with an elbow. "I told you I'm famous."
Zoya blew out an exasperated breath. "Thank you. He's going to be twice as insufferable now. ~ Leigh Bardugo

What do you two talk about, anyway?" I asked curiously. I still didn't quite understand Genya's fascination with the Fabrikator.

She sighed. "The usual. Life. Love. The melting point of iron ore. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Every poem is about a brave hero named Kregi," she said. "Every single one. He always has a steed, and we have to hear about the steed and the three different kinds of swords he carried and the color of the scarf he wore tied to his wrist and all the poor monsters he slew and then how he was a gentle man and true. For a mercenary, Tolya is disturbingly maudlin. ~ Leigh Bardugo

They all watched as Genya checked his pulse, his breathing. She shook her head.

"Zoya," said Sturmhond. His voice had the ring of command.

Zoya sighed and pushed up her sleeves. "Unbutton his shirt."

"What are you doing?" Kaz asked as Genya undid Kuwei's remaining buttons. His chest was narrow, his ribs visible, all of it spattered with the pig's blood they'd encased in the wax bladder.

"I'm either going to wake up his heart or cook him from the inside out," said Zoya. "Stand back."

They did their best to obey in the cramped space. "What exactly does she mean by that?" Kaz asked Nina.

"I'm not sure," Nina admitted. Zoya had her hands out and her eyes closed. The air felt suddenly cool and moist.

Inej inhaled deeply. "It smells like a storm."

Zoya opened her eyes and brought her hands together as if in prayer, rubbing her palms against each other briskly.

Nina felt the pressure drop, tasted metal on her tongue. "I think … I think she's summoning lightning."

"Is that safe?" asked Inej.

"Not remotely," said Sturmhond.

"Has she at least done it before?" said Kaz.

"For this purpose?" asked Sturmhond. "I've seen her do it twice. It worked splendidly. Once." His voice was oddly familiar, and Nina had the sense they'd met before.

"Ready?" Zoya asked.

Genya shoved a thickly folded piece of fabric between Kuwei's teeth and ~ Leigh Bardugo

More flexible!" David said in near ecstasy.
"What can I say?" asked Genya drily. "He's a passionate man. ~ Leigh Bardugo

David furrowed his brow. "I ... I don't understand half of what goes on around me. I don't get jokes or sunsets or poetry, but I know metal." His fingers flexed unconsciously as if he were physically grasping for words. "Beauty was your armor. Fragile stuff, all show. But what's inside you? That's steel. It's brave and unbreakable. And it doesn't need fixing." He drew in a deep breath then awkwardly stepped forward. He took her face in his hands and kissed her.
Genya went regid. I thought she'd push him away. But then she threw her arms around him and kissed him back. Emphatically.
Mal cleared his throat, and Tamar gave a low whistle. I had to bite my lip to stifle a nervous laugh.
They broke apart. David was blushing furiously. Genya's grin was so dazzling it made my heart twist in my chest. ~ Leigh Bardugo

The King scowled. "She is a traitor to the crown. I want her head."
To my surprise, Genya said to Nikolai, "I will take my punishment if he takes his. ~ Leigh Bardugo

I need you to save the others."
"What others?" she asked desperately.
"The other drüskelle. Swear to me you'll at least try to help them, to make them see."
"We'll go together, Matthias. We'll be spies. Genya will tailor us and we'll go to Fjerda together. I'll wear all the ugly knitted vests you want."
"Go home to Ravka, Nina. Be free, as you were meant to be. Be a warrior, as you always have been. Just save some mercy for my people. There has to be a Fjerda worth saving. Promise me."
"I promise." The words were more sob than sound. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Why are you taking this so personally?"

"Wouldn't you?"

"I have no idea. I've always been beautiful."

"And humble too? ~ Leigh Bardugo

Genya would have to keep her face hidden, but she didn't seem to mind. She'd wrapped her shawl around her head and declared, 'I shall be a woman of mystery.' I reminded her not to be too intriguing. ~ Leigh Bardugo

I hope you're all enjoying yourselves."
Tamar hooked a scarf over Nadia's neck and drew her in for a kiss.
"Oh, for Saints' sake," complained Zoya. "Is everyone pairing up now?"
Genya snickered. "Take heart. I've seen Stigg casting mournful glances your way."
"He's Fjerdan," Zoya said. "That's the only kind of glance he has. And I can arrange my own assignations, thank you very much. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Just… be careful.'
I stared at her, baffled. 'Of what?'
'Of powerful men. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Genya stepped back, brushing the blonde strands of Nina's wig from her face to get a better look at her. "Nina, how is this possible? The last time Zoya saw you - "

"You were throwing a tantrum," said Zoya, "stomping away from camp with all the caution of a wayward moose."

To Matthias' surprise, Nina actually winced like a child taking a scolding. He didn't think he'd ever seen her embarrassed before.

"We thought you were dead," Genya said.

"She looks half-dead."

"She looks fine."

"You vanished," Zoya spat. "When we heard there were Fjerdans nearby, we feared the worst."

"The worst happened," Nina said. "And then it happened some more." She took Matthias' hand. "But we're here now."

Zoya glared at their clasped hands and crossed her arms. "I see."

Genya raised an auburn brow. "Well, ifhe's the worst that can happen - ~ Leigh Bardugo

Apparently, Adrik and Harshaw had been evicted for the night. A very bleary Genya and David blinked up at us from beneath the covers of a single narrow cot.
Mal gave a little cough. Can't say I'm surprised. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Just a moment," David said, planting a finger on the page to mark his place in his book. "What was your name ?"
"Yuri Vedenen, moi soverenyi."
"Yuri Veneden, if you upset my wife again, I will kill you where you stand."
The monk swallowed. "Yes, moi soverenyi."
"Oh, David," Genya said, taking his hand. "You've never theatened to murder anyone for me before."
"Haven't I?" He murmured distractedly, placed a kiss on her knuckles, and continued reading. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Sturmhond back into the corridors. As their footfalls faded, silence descended. Wylan cleared his throat and the sound bounced around the blue-tiled room like a spring colt let loose in a corral. Genya's face was bemused. Zoya crossed her arms.
"Well?" "Ma'am …" Wylan attempted. "Miss Genya - "
Genya smiled, her scars tugging at the corner of her mouth. "Oh, he is sweet."
"You always take to the strays," said Zoya sourly. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Do that thing you do where you use too many words to say something simple and confuse the issue. ~ Leigh Bardugo