How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
[Randa's] commands included specifics: blood and pain, for this or that length of time. There was no way around what he wanted. The more Katsa did it, the better she got at it. And Randa got what he wished, for her reputation spread like a cancer. […] After a while Katsa forgot about defiance. It became too difficult to imagine. (3.36-37)
And this is how, initially, Katsa loses her identity as an individual. She's a young girl—ten, for goodness sake—when Randa starts giving her these specific commands and using her as a torture and killing machine. And that, for the next eight years, is how she is defined—by Randa, by others, and by herself. Even though she starts the Council and begins to do good in the kingdoms, Katsa can't shake the lady killer identity that Randa thrust upon her all those years ago.
Quote #2
Katsa couldn't say where the notion had come from, but once it pushed its way into her mind, it would not leave. What might she be capable of—if she acted of her own volition and outside Randa's domain? (3.40)
Where did the notion come from?! Her heart. The core of her being. The essence of who she really is. But Katsa has been blinded to her true identity by the mercenary role she's had to take on in her uncle's court. So blinded that she can't even recognize that despite some bad choices (made very much under duress, mind you), she is a kind, compassionate soul.
Quote #3
[…] a sound from the inside reminded her how much the court would talk if she were found wading, barefoot and wild haired, in King Randa's fountain. They would think her mad.
And perhaps she was mad. (7.96-97)
There are so many ways that Katsa doesn't fit into her society that she must feel mad most of the time. And what does she mean "they would think her mad"? Doesn't everyone pretty much think she's mad anyway? Except Raffin and Bann, Oll and Giddon, of course. And the other members of the Council. But the people in the court? Sheesh—they don't even meet her eyes. We're pretty sure they've already written her off.