How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"Truly, I don't wish to take your secrets from you. […] You know, you could always knock me unconscious. I wouldn't stop you."
Katsa laughed then. […] "I'd rather strengthen my mind against you," she said, "than knock you out every time I have a thought I don't want you to know." (18.143-148)
Aha. Remember how when Katsa was faced with the "little mind reader" back in Chapter 4, she recognized that she would be willing to torture the child in order to keep her thoughts private (4.70)? Clearly she's come a long way since then.
Quote #8
"A fire will be impossible, but at least we won't sleep in the rain."
"A fire is never impossible," Katsa said. […]
With the strike of her knife, a number of gentle breaths, and whatever protection her own open arms could give, a flame began to lick its way through the damp little tower of kindling. […] She'd always had a way with fires. (19.9-11)
Okay, that's it—Katsa's got the coolest Grace ever. She's like a survivalist superhero or something. Can you even imagine what it would be like to go camping with her? All we can say is that it might get a little difficult to remember the distinction between being humiliated and being humbled.
Quote #9
"You carried my grandfather up a flight of stairs?"
"Yes, at Randa's castle."
"After a day and a night of hard riding?"
"Yes."
His laugh burst out, but she didn't see the joke. "I had to do it, Po. If I hadn't, the mission would have failed."
"He weighs as much as you, and half as much again. […] Your Grace is more than fighting." (20.14-23)
It's neat the way Cashore makes this particular feat—carrying Grandfather Tealiff up those steep stone stairs—work with Katsa's Grace. If you think about it, you might start to wonder why Katsa, whose Grace is survival, would have the super strength to carry an old man up a flight of stairs. It doesn't make sense. Unless… as Katsa says here, she believed that it had to be done in order for the mission to succeed.
Because if the mission failed and she were found outside of Randa's castle with an unconscious Tealiff, the Council would be endangered, which would in turn endanger Katsa. So yeah, it was a matter of survival. Cool, huh?