First things first. Get the facts, then decide what to do next. And ho — Genevieve Cogman

"She’d sort things out later. She’d explain things later. Right now she just had to make sure there would be a later."

"Irene hated trusting to luck. It was no substitute for good planning and careful preparation."

"It was only a hypothesis, but it made an uncomfortable amount of sense."

"She wasn’t actually going to lie, but there was…well, there might be an element of flexibility."

"There were so many possible logical holes in that statement that Irene could have used it as a tea-strainer."

"“I met one (that is, a dragon) once,” Irene said. “What did you talk about?” “He complimented me on my literary taste.” Kai blinked. “Doesn’t sound like a life-threatening sort of conversation.”"