How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
When the queen at last set down the parchment and met her daughter's eyes, Ani was expecting an accusing stare and was surprised by the sorrow that weighed down her features. She could not tell if the sorrow was for her father or for her. A thought buzzed in Ani's head: I do not know this woman at all. Her stomach turned uneasily. (2.83)
Yikes—imagine feeling this way about your own mother. Ani's reaction to her mom shows us just how much the queen controls behind everyone's backs; she's impossible to read and knows how to twist words to get what she wants.
Quote #2
Her mother's magic with words was worming into Ani's mind. Already she was thinking, Yes, fine, whatever you did is fine. She pricked herself again and warned herself not to fall into the role of complacent listener. (2.88)
That sounds like one smooth talker to us—the queen knows how to control everyone around her simply by opening her mouth. It's important for us to think about this not just as the gift of people-speaking, but as something darker too.
Quote #3
Ani felt the crowd shudder at the power in the queen's voice. Would that her voice accompanied me, thought Ani, and not a stained handkerchief. The thing felt thin and warm in her hand. She squeezed it and wished it were more than a token, wished it really could somehow carry safety and home and the love of a mother. (3.34)
Is this all just an act? If we really stop and think about it, the queen is playing puppet master to everyone in her kingdom. She's so good at pulling strings that we're not sure where the truth ends and the manipulation begins… and neither is Ani.
Quote #4
"For years I have been waiting for my chance, and now here it is. Don't touch me and don't call for me. I am no longer your servant. You, what are you? The brat of lucky parents who were related to a childless king. There is no such thing as royal blood. I believe we are what we make ourselves, and as such, you, Crown Princess, are nothing." Selia spoke as though she had held those words inside for too long and they burned her mouth as she spoke them. (4.40)
Tsk, tsk, Selia. We know it's bad news when Selia goes out on a limb here in the middle of the forest, but she must be pretty convincing. Why else would the guards—who are supposed to protect Ani at all costs—go along with her plan? Deviant she may be, but Selia's also an excellent schemer.
Quote #5
"Fraud?" said Selia. "Royalty is not a right, Captain. The willingness of the people to follow a ruler is what gives her power. Here, in this place, by this people, I have been chosen. These men are tired of being told whom to follow. Now they have a choice, and they use that choice to call me Princess." Selia's words seemed seductively convincing. Even Ani, peering through pine boughs, had to stop herself from nodding. But Adon stepped up beside Talone and challenged her. (4.100)
This wheeler and dealer knows how to get people on board with her plan. Did you notice how even Ani finds it hard not to go along with whatever Selia's saying? The book wants us to believe Selia is one big, bad wolf, but how much of this is really her fault? She's not alone in taking over Ani, after all.
Quote #6
She was little like her mother, though that was all she had ever longed to be. She lacked the gift of people-speaking, that power to convince and control that laced every word her mother uttered. She did not possess that grace and beauty that all in a room turned to watch. But had the queen ever told a nursery story to a room of captivated listeners? Or handled fifty head of geese? Ani smiled at the thought, and then she surprised herself by feeling proud. I've done that much. What more can I do? (10.74)
When Ani stops and thinks about it, she's got her own powers of manipulation—they might not come in the form of people-speaking like her mom (and Selia), but she's convinced a whole kingdom that she's someone she's not. Now look who's crafty.
Quote #7
Ani stared up at the baring branches, eyes wide to keep them dry. She felt powerless. Geric looked at her with sympathy, perhaps thinking she was just a sweet girl who hated to hear of the mistreatment of any animal. She shook her head, unable to explain. (13.20)
Here, perhaps for the first time, Ani has no manipulation or power to speak of. She wants to get Geric to save Falada, but it doesn't matter because she's just a goose girl and she can't persuade the king herself. Ani gets it here—she might not have liked being a royal when she was one, but she sure liked the power that came along with it.
Quote #8
She wished, not for the first time, that she had been born with the gift of people-speaking. Ani was sure that Selia could have gotten past those guards with a few seductive words. Ani saw Talone grip the hilt of his sword. There had to be a way to get to the king without drawing weapons. She would not kill palace guards or allow the workers to risk themselves in a vain brawl. (18.65)
Again and again, Ani wishes she could people-speak, but wouldn't that really just be so she could manipulate people too—just like Selia and her mom? She might get hurt by the people-speakers in the book, but when it comes down to it, she wants to be just like them.
Quote #9
"How'll we achieve it at all?" said Ani. "She rode into town with light-colored hair wearing my dress, and they accepted her as the princess. I show up with lighter hair, and the workers, the former prime minister, and at least one palace guard vote for me. Will our fate be decided when we stand side by side and the king judges which of us looks the most like a princess?" (19.44)
Uh-oh—Ani worries that she won't be persuasive enough to be believable as the princess. What she's really saying is that she isn't as convincing because she can't manipulate people quite as well, which Talone points out is actually a good thing since she is the princess after all.
Quote #10
Selia's voice quavered with too many tones, confusing the roles she played— commanding, regal, humble, coercive, friendly, and under it all the hate and jealousy that shook her bones when she spoke Ani's title. Ani concentrated on turning the voice, her words that had always struck like javelins and pinned down her mind with their commands, turning those shooting words into feathers, floating away. (21.69)
Manipulating the king to believe her, Selia uses the best weapon in her arsenal: her people-speaking. Yet Ani manipulates people to get what she wants too—she lies to the guards about who she is, and pretends to be lower class to fit in with the forest workers. Is it okay for Ani to manipulate people but not Selia? It's a tricky moral conundrum.