Megan Whalen Turner Quote

The room was full of people. Ninety-eight days, said the queen, folding her hands in her lap. You said it would take six months. Eugenides picked at a nub in the coverlet. I like to give myself a margin. When I can. I didn’t believe you, the queen admitted with a delicate smile. Now you know better. The king smiled back. They might as well have been alone. The queen turned her head to listen. There was shouting in the guardroom. Costis tensed. His hand went to his belt, looking for his sword. That will be Dite, said the king. He must have been in the outer rooms. I may as well see him. The queen rose and stepped behind the embroidered screen in front of the fireplace. Her attendants withdrew. The king’s attendants remained, digesting the fact that their helpless, inept king had promised his wife to destroy the house of Erondites in six months and had done it in ninety-eight days.