the priory of the orange tree - samantha shannon sentence starters
change tenses/pronouns as needed !! some lines have been edited for clarity / length / ease of roleplaying
tw ; death , pregnancy
‘all the world is a cage in a young girl’s eyes.’
‘there is great power in stories.’
‘all stories grow from a seed of truth. they are knowledge after figuration.’
‘I see through your mask. I see what’s in your heart. it’s the same as what’s in mine. ambition.’
‘have we met? don’t tell me, you’re plainly a fool, and I have no interest in befriending fools.’
‘i’ve always rather fancied an adventure.’
‘oh, come, (name). you know why this is happening. everyone tried to warn you.’
‘what I know is less important than what the world sees.’
‘all you see, in the end, is what I want you to see. such is politics.’
‘this mission may not seem survivable but you never know.’
‘you have ambition. ever apologize for that.’
‘you won’t miss me so much. when you soar above the clouds, we will all seem very small down here.’
‘where I am, I am with you.’
‘what did I do to deserve you turning up to threaten what little I have left of an existence?’
‘you’re old enough to know that not all dreams should be pursued, especially not dreams conceived on the featherbed of love.’
‘trust me. you can do nothing here but die.’
‘I have an interest in survival. I suggest you nurture one, too.’
‘we may be small, and we may be young, but we shake the world for our beliefs.’
‘now I know your secret, and it reeks far worse than mine.’
‘you have not seen death. you have only seen the mask we put on it.’
‘I prefer the taste of mercy. it lets me sleep at night.’
‘rain is water, and so are we. will water defeat you?’
‘you should do as you see fit. there will always be voices telling you what to do, and how to act, but it is you who wears the crown.’
‘you do speak comely words. I wonder if you mean them.’
‘all courts will fall prey to affection and deceit, often veiled as courtesy. but I like to believe that I speak from the heart.’
‘I suspect you fear that your skill will slip between your fingers if you loosen your grip for even a moment.’
‘remember, (name), that a sword does not need to be whetted at all hours to keep it sharp.’
‘dreams reach deep into our pasts.’
‘I do not sleep because I am not only afraid of the monsters at my door, but also of the monsters my own mind can conjure. the ones that live within.’
‘you wear so much armor by daylight that, by night, you can carry it no longer. by night, you are only flesh.’
‘in darkness, we are named our truest selves. night is when fear comes to us at its fullest, when we have no way to fight.’
‘fear will do everything it can to seep inside you. sometimes it may succeed — but never think that you are the night.’
‘balance is necessary in all things, (name) — it doesn’t not equate to disrespect.’
‘I never wanted an adventure. not even one.’
‘monsters often have soft faces. they know how to mask themselves.’
‘how is it you always know what to say to comfort me?’
‘you use the suffering of others for your own gain.’
‘I did not do it out of kindness. I did it because I wanted my life to run a smooth course.’
‘that disappoints me. that dishonors you. but not beyond forgiveness.’
‘that is not the question you must ask. you must ask what we must do.’
‘I have never had any great inclination toward marriage. not the sort of marriage those of royal blood must make — born not of love, but fear of isolation. yet if I refrain the world will stand in judgement.’
‘childing is not always easy. no one talks openly about the difficulties. the discomfort. the uncertainty. so now you feel the weight of your condition, you believe yourself alone in it.’
‘your fear is natural. let no one tell you otherwise.’
‘I am not quite sure what I did without you.’
‘just once, I wanted to be fearless. to take a risk.’
‘try not to be irritating.’
‘I fear death too much to seek it.’
‘my will was not always what it is now. once I was as molten glass, yet to be spun into shape. I sense I have taken a shape she mislikes.’
‘I told you fear was natural, but you must not let it consume you. not when there is so much at stake.’
‘I despise all of you, overweening crows. all any of you think about is what you can peck from me.’
‘you had a great burden to bear, and you bore it bravely.’
‘you have tried to turn yourself to stone. do not be afeared to find that you have not.’
‘fool. I would not be compelled by you or anyone. have I not always given you truth?’
‘you have a ghost, (name). do not become a ghost yourself.’
‘I am a meddler, not a fool.’
‘the water in you has grown stagnant, (name), but it is not beyond cleansing.’
‘you say you desire truth, but truth is a weave with many threads.’
‘I don’t know if I trust the woman you are but I trust the woman I knew.’
‘I confess I am what you would call a sorceress, but no magic is evil. it is what the wielder makes it.’
‘all of us have shadows in us. I accept yours. and I hope you will also accept mine.’
‘you told me we would meet again. I did not want to make you a liar.’
‘blood is never the way forward.’
‘no. you are another dream. you come here to torment me.’
‘fair roses have grown from twisted seeds.’
‘piety can turn the power-hungry into monsters. they can twist any teaching to justify their actions.’
‘I hope you did not keep it from me because you thought I would judge you.’
‘I think you a self-righteous fool whose head is harder than a rock. and I would not change you for the world.’
‘just because something has always been done does not mean that it ought to be done.’
‘(name), you know I love you, but the sense in your head could fit in a thimble.’
‘my mother always said it was best to receive bad news in winter, when everything is already dark. so one can heal for spring.’
‘I know you must go. to ask you to stay would be like trying to cage the wind.’
‘my heart knows your song, as yours knows mine. and I will always come back to you.’
‘for what I have done, I deserve hardship. it’s my fault (name) is dead.’
‘it has been peaceful here but my blood is the sea, and it cannot be still.’
‘do not deny yourself the privilege of living.’
‘the world is full of fools. and they are never more foolish than when they smell eternal life.’
‘who I am and who I was are none of your concern.’
‘I will not kill you this night but what you see before your is a ghost. when you least expect it, I will return to haunt you. I will hunt you to the ends of the earth.’
‘look upon my work. all this destruction is because of you.’
‘you have no choice but to trust me.’
‘to die in the service of a better world would be the highest honor.’
‘let us not think of the future this night. it is not yet dawn. we still have time for airy hopes.’
‘you impress me. I had not thought that one heart could hold such rancor.’
‘you cannot fathom the depth of the enmity I have felt for you. I have cursed your name with every sunrise.’
‘you preyed on me. I was young and afraid and I confided my deepest fear to you.’
‘you always come back. like a weed.’
‘I fell into shadow, and now I must rise, so I might be a better man.’
‘you can’t trust him. he would sell his soul for a handful of silver.’
‘I have no soul to sell. but I may yet earn one.’
‘leave me to my shadows. i’m afraid they are all I have left.’
‘being your friend is quite a strenuous affair, you know.’
‘it will hurt me, to hurt you. you are mine.’
‘I will teach my heart to beat again.’
‘some truths are safest buried. some castles best kept in the sky.’
