Lantsov Quotes

I wish your donkey well, but you should always feel free to correct me when I make mistakes.'
'Yes, Your Highness,' Isaak said uncomfortably.
'Don't worry,' said Nikolai as they turned their backs on the gardens and headed toward the Grand Palace. 'It doesn't happen often. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Jesper couldn't quite believe he was having a conversation with the Sturmhond. The privateer was a legend. He'd broken countless blockades on behalf of the Ravkans and there were rumors that… "Do you really have a flying ship? blurted Jesper.
"No."
"Oh."
"I have several."
"Take me with you. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Her time is better spent with me. The thorn wood is a path you walk alone, boy king."
"But it's a very arduous path," Nikolai said. "Who will carry my snacks? ~ Leigh Bardugo

He would not beg Zoya to stay. It was not in his nature to plead with anyone, and that was not the pact they shared. They did not look to each other for comfort. They kept each other marching. They kept each other strong. So he would not find another excuse to get her talking again. He would not tell her he was afraid to be left alone with the thing he might become, and he would not ask her to leave the lamp burning, a child's bit of magic to ward off the dark.
But he was relieved when she did it anyway. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Do good works or commission an opera house or just take it out and gaze at it longingly when you think of the handsome prince you might have made your own. For the record, I favor the latter option, preferably paired with copious tears and the recitation of bad poetry. ~ Leigh Bardugo

He leaned against the window, and the gilded frame came into sharp focus. "Do you think it would be any different with your tracker beside you? With that Lantsov pup?"
"Yes," I said simply.
"Because you would be the strong one?"
"Because they're better men than you."
"You might make me a better man."
"And you might make me a monster. ~ Leigh Bardugo

I'm used to being the center of attention wherever I go. I've been told I could charm the shoes off a racehorse midstride, and yet you seem impervious. ~ Leigh Bardugo

My king lies bleeding. I am his subject and his soldier, and I come to fight for him. ~ Leigh Bardugo

There had been a time when words had been the only place he could find solace. No book ever lost patience with him or told him to sit still. When his tutors had thrown up their hands in frustration, it was the library that had taught Nikolai military history, strategy, chemistry, astronomy. Each spine had been an open door away whispering, Come in, come in. Here is the land you've never seen before. Here is a place to hide when you're frightened, to play when you're bored, to rest when the world seems unkind. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Who are you, and what are you playing at?"
"Nikolai Lantsov, but please don't make me recite my titles again. It's no fun for anybody, and the only important one is 'prince.'"
"And what about Sturmhond?" I asked.
"I'm also Sturmhond, commander of the Volkvolny, scourge of the True Sea."
"Scourge?"
"Well, I'm vexing at the very least."
I shook my head. "Impossible."
"Improbable."
"This is not the time to try to be entertaining. ~ Leigh Bardugo

I know the pain is bad," said Elizaveta as she drifted through the thicket. "But the thorns will keep you from forcing the darkness to recede. ~ Leigh Bardugo

We put on our best clothes and die like heroes. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Stop punishing yourself for being someone with a heart. You cannot protect yourself from suffering. To live is to grieve. You are not protecting yourself by shutting yourself off from the world. You are limiting yourself. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Most women suffer thorns for the sake of the flowers, but we who wield power adorn ourselves with flowers to hide the sting of our thorns ~ Leigh Bardugo

Nikolai had been told that hope was dangerous, had been warned of it many times. But he'd never believed that. Hope was the wind that came from nowhere to fill your sails and carry you home. ~ Leigh Bardugo

I think fatigue suits you, Zoya. The pallor. The shadows beneath your eyes. You look like a heroine in a novel. "
"I look like a woman about to step on your foot. "
"Now, now. You're managing remarkably well. And the smiling hasn't killed you yet."
"Yet. ~ Leigh Bardugo

I'm also Sturmhond, commander of the Volkvony, scourge of the True Sea.'
'Scourge?'
'Well, I'm vexing at the very least. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Not bad looking? He's damnably handsome. Brave in battle, smart as a whip. An excellent dancer, oh, and an even better shot. ~ Leigh Bardugo

I was impressed, and also unnerved. Being around Nikolai was always like this, watching him shift and change, revealing secrets as he went. He reminded me of the wooden nesting dolls I'd played with as a child. Except instead of getting smaller, he just kept getting grander and more mysterious. Tomorrow, he'd probably tell me he'd built a pleasure palace on the moon. Tough to get to, but quite a view. ~ Leigh Bardugo

I took a breath. "Your highness - "
"Nikolai," he corrected. "But I've also been known to answer to 'sweetheart' or 'handsome. ~ Leigh Bardugo

I don't think - "

"Clearly. Why start now?"

Ivan's face flushed in anger. "You don't - "

Sturmhond leaned in close, the laughter gone from his voice, his easy demeanor replaced by something with a sword's edge. "I don't care who you are on land. On this ship, you're nothing but ballast. Unless I put you over the side, in which case you're shark bait. I like shark. Cooks up tough, but it makes for a little variety. Remember that the next time you have a mind to threaten anyone aboard this vessel." He stepped back, his jolly manner restored. "Go on now, shark bait. Scurry back to your master."

"I won't forget this, Sturmhond," Ivan spat.

The captain rolled his eyes. "That's the idea. ~ Leigh Bardugo

I saw the prince when I was in Os Alta," said Ekaterina. "He's not bad looking."
"Not bad looking?" said another voice. "He's damnably handsome."
Luchenko scowled. "Since when - "
"Brave in battle, smart as a whip." Now the voice seemed to be coming from above us. Luchenko craned his neck, peering into the trees. "An excellent dancer," said the voice. "Oh, and an even better shot."
"Who - " Luchenko never got to finish. A blast rang out, and a tiny black hole appeared between his eyes.
I gasped. "Imposs - "
"Don't say it," muttered Mal. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Who are you?" Mal asked furiously.
"That's a complicated question."
"Actually, it's pretty straightforward," I said, springing to my feet. "But it does require telling the truth. Something you seem thoroughly incapable of."
"Oh, I can do it," Sturmhond said, shaking water from one of his boots. "I'm just not very good at it. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Ravka is grateful for your service," Sturmhond said as they turned to go. "And so is the crown." He waved once. In the late afternoon light, with the sun behind him, he looked less like a privateer and more like... but that was just silly. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Your highness - "
"Nikolai," he corrected. "But I've also been known to answer to 'sweetheart' or 'handsome.'"
Mal whirled, but I silenced him with a pleading look.
"You need to stop that right now, Nikolai," I said. "Or I'll knock those princely teeth out myself. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Is that all?' said Zoya. 'Will you be taking up juggling as well?'
'Don't be ridiculous,' Nikolai replied. 'I already know how to juggle. Literally and figuratively. ~ Leigh Bardugo

But if you loved a thing, the work was never done ~ Leigh Bardugo

There are rumors that you died on the Fold. People have been selling off parts of you all over Ravka and West Ravka for months. You're quite the good luck charm."
"Those are supposed to be my fingers?"
"Knuckles, toes, fragments of rib."
I felt sick. I looked around, hoping to spot Mal, needing to see something familiar.
"Of course," Nikolai continued, "if half of those were really your toes, you'd have about a hundred feet. But superstition is a powerful thing. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Lay down the thorn, boy king. Haven't you earned a bit of rest? Aren't you tired?'

He was. Saints, he was. He thought he had grown used to his scars, but he had never grasped how much of his will it would take to hide them. He had fought and sacrificed and bled. He had gone long days without rest and long nights without comfort. All for Ravka, all for an ideal he would never attain and a country that would never care. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Say something spiteful."
"Why?" she asked faintly.
"Because I'm fairly certain I'm hallucinating and in my dreams you're much nicer."
"You're an idiot, Nikolai. ~ Leigh Bardugo

I don't expect you to fight beside me, Rollins."
"Then what do you want? It's yours. Within reason."
"I need to get a message to the Ravkan capital. Fast."
Rollins shrugged. "Easy enough."
"And I need money."
"Shocking. How much?"
"Two hundred thousand kruge."
Rollins nearly choked on his laughter. "Anything else, Brekker? The Lantsov Emerald? A dragon who craps rainbows? ~ Leigh Bardugo

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