The Oldest Dance Quotes

“Kusha felt a tinge of pride, exponentially multiplied by her Low-Grade inferiority complex, reading this footnote. It worsened when ads started coming up on her HOME page after reading it. The ads had horrible titles:

Dream Youth For The Low Grades.
Alternate Longevity.
A Secret Pleasurable Way To Youth.
Get Your Dream Citizenship With Pleasing Pleasure Contract.

The last one is for non-citizens, of course. At least, she’s a citizen. But when Kusha discovered how many unevolved men and women enter such contracts just for citizenship, it made her face crease. As if she’d caught a nasty smell. For a moment, she even thought, she hated every High Grade in the world, including everyone in her adoptive family. Right now, standing in front of Meera, the hatred swells.”
― Misba, The Oldest Dance

“If his first impression weren’t ninety percent pre-constructed by the entrance, he would think that it was a nice, comfortable place to live in.”
― Misba, The Oldest Dance

“Maroc Metz—as usual in his tailcoat, rimless glasses, gloved hands, and neatly brushed black hair—welcomes the Mesmerizer with boiling-hot tea—Earl Grey, raspberry flavor. He drinks a third of it in one gulp, its heat boosting his prana. The boiling-hot tea doesn’t make him blink away from the Devil’s Book.”
― Misba, The Oldest Dance

“It's a laughable lock—one that you would use only to guard a graveyard. Not that anyone would trouble themselves invading a timber hut in a mangrove forest farther away from the Bay of Bengal. Still, how can someone live with a lock like that? Made of ancient iron, reeking of rust. It would need a primordial key to be twisted and turned, going through several moments of mechanical trouble until the old lock opens. Good luck if you can do that without breaking the key.

Oh! The key … Well, the owner of the hut has left the key right beside the lock, including instructions. The Monk, Yuan Yagmur—revealing his muscled arms from under his wide, dark shawl—takes the note (the one with instructions):

Please, scan your CRAB first before touching the key. For your own safety.
From what, you ask? It’s a surprise.
Enter without scanning if you want to find out.
—Mee-Hae Ra

”
― Misba, The Oldest Dance

“A herd of deer catches the Monk’s attention. They are running. He senses the fear in them. Soon, the largest cat in this forest takes one of them: it runs, grabs a neck, halts, and mauls; then it kills. A predator wins. Always.

The herd of deer accepts it. Mourning a while, they go back to grazing. Perhaps they even think, this time too, it wasn’t me. Not yet.”
― Misba, The Oldest Dance

“She’s rethinking her reasons to make it believable to herself first. Otherwise, it’d be a lie, and as a Grade A, she mustn’t lie.”
― Misba, The Oldest Dance

“You need to control your thoughts, Ra.”
― Misba, The Oldest Dance

“Everyone has their reasons to keep power. Just as you hold on to yours for your illegitimate searches with stolen stones," Umi explains.
“At least I can search,” Ruem says calmly. “You, on the other hand, took an oath to linger in the labyrinth.”
― Misba, The Oldest Dance

“Bring wine,” he mutters. “She’s an old friend.” Standing in his bedroom, he notices the subtle change of expression—a frown, almost—on Maroc’s face after hearing the old-friend part.”
― Misba, The Oldest Dance

“Fine. We are the Knights and Rulers of the world,” she says. “You win this verbal war. Can we move on?”
― Misba, The Oldest Dance

“From above, the entire plan of Kuhawk looks like a bird’s nest; the globe looks like a gem at the center.
It’s quiet. Except for the times when music happens.
Like now—

One room in the two-story building glows, violin music emanating from it. Maroc is playing for his master: The Roar of Death Sonata, 1st Movement, one of the legendary Eleven Pieces composed after the Apocalypse.”
― Misba, The Oldest Dance

“The Mesmerizer laughs. A few days ago, he gave the same save-the-world excuse to a certain monk. He also made it believable to himself first, just like her. How fast the universe rolls out its dice, he’s hearing it back so soon!”
― Misba, The Oldest Dance

“What are you seeking in the Devil’s Book—treasure?” she asks, even though she knows what the Mesmerizer seeks.

“What kind of old man in his nineties would fawn over treasures?” the Mesmerizer chuckles.”
― Misba, The Oldest Dance

“You keep an ancient lock with a scanner while the balcony is open?” he asks.”
― Misba, The Oldest Dance

“But you’re avoiding my question, Yagmur. Don’t think I didn’t notice.”
― Misba, The Oldest Dance

“Once you sow the seed of hatred, it never leaves. It sleeps. You think it’s gone, but it only needs a tickle or two to arise and whack you in the face,’ says Spirituality With Monk Minakshi. Kusha feels an invisible whack to her face when Meera keeps questioning: “Sweetie, I’m only trying to figure out if you …”
― Misba, The Oldest Dance

“Mastering emotions starts with observation,” their master used to say.”
― Misba, The Oldest Dance

“Kusha searched about it on the Central Library’s online archive after coming from the auction. Of course, it was a lie.”
― Misba, The Oldest Dance

“Nothing physical from the body of a High Grade can heal. No matter if it’s blood or sperm or saliva or even a discarded hair or nail—as some fraudulent religious groups claim, taking advantage of Low Grades’ fascination with the living gods among them.”
― Misba, The Oldest Dance

“Kusha felt a tinge of pride, exponentially multiplied by her Low-Grade inferiority complex, reading this footnote.”
― Misba, The Oldest Dance

“He tried to make me work. With him,” he says truthfully, just as a war hero, the owner of a strong voice, should.

“You are wrong, Yuan,” Mee-Hae says, half-worried and half-angry, her voice suddenly quivering. “He wanted to make you work. With or without him.”

“I have to stop him,” the Monk says.

“Am I the bait?”
― Misba, The Oldest Dance

“For a moment, she even thought, she hated every High Grade in the world, including everyone in her adoptive family. Right now, standing in front of Meera, the hatred swells.”
― Misba, The Oldest Dance

“Preparing the manor means removing the disc-lift section, installing railings at a few places. Don’t forget the baby-friendly stairs, even though the newborn won’t use it for another year. Rashad has finished the carpet replacement and floor disinfecting, not that the baby will be crawling anytime soon. Other tasks include removing Meera’s books and crafts, also the sharp objects from up to a height.”
― Misba, The Oldest Dance

“Not everyone has flawless intuition, do they?”
― Misba, The Oldest Dance

“Scan? Or not scan? The Monk wonders, but soon, he decides to follow the instruction.”
― Misba, The Oldest Dance

“For a woman, who once was a yearning of the Mesmerizer, anything is possible.”
― Misba, The Oldest Dance

“The Monk takes the key and inserts it into the lock carefully, hoping neither the key nor the lock will break. Of course, he does the methodical twists and turns with mechanical precision, winning through the rust until he opens the almost broken door like the gentle monk he is. The door shrieks.”
― Misba, The Oldest Dance

“Kusha paces around her attic. When her constant pacing seems as if it’d burn the wooden floor, she leaves her attic and enters the garden on the roof beside it.”
― Misba, The Oldest Dance

“The Monk avoids the question. He brings out a small package of tea—procured from the Himalayas with difficulty.”
― Misba, The Oldest Dance

“Her intuition works when the right option is present. None of these is the right option.”
― Misba, The Oldest Dance