And she had the most appealing of feminine virtues, especially in a queen. She's easily led.
What he brought out was a wooden gag they put in someone's mouth before doing something drastic, like cutting off a leg.
We are taught to treat a practice sword with all the respect of a real weapon, so no thoughtless mistakes are madeOh... In Eddis, we learn to keep tack of the weapon we have in our hand.
Today, she had yielded the sovereignty of her country to Eugenides, who had given up everything he had ever hoped for, to be her King.
The gold was a gift; you said so yourself.You are a woman, Nahuseresh said very gently. You do not understand the world of kings and emperors, you do not understand the nature of their gifts.Nahuseres...
The clear light of the library was slanting in through the glass-paneled doorway to my right, falling on the table between my tutor and me and on dust motes hung in the air. The tiny flecks drew my ey...
Pol knew, said Sophos from the window.
Just asleep, Eddis reassured her.At the sound of her voice Eugenides's head turned slightly, but he didn't wake. Attolia, seeing the movement, breathed again and pressed her hand to her chest where it...
Irene-Don't call me that.You were the princess Irene the first time we met.It means 'peace', Attolia said. What name could be more inappropriate?That I be named Helen? Eddis suggested.The hard lines i...
He watched Attolia out of the corner of his eye. She was still cool, like a breath of winter in the warm evening air, but in the last few days he had begun to sense a subtle humor in her chilly words....
He should have said something, why hadn't he? Costis wondered. In fact, the king had. He had complained at every step all the way across the palace, and they'd ignored it. If he'd been stoic and denie...
He felt a chill on the back of his neck. It was self-doubt, the black beetle that had pursued him all his life, pinching at him, poisoning his every success, whispering in his ear about his flaws and...
Finally I went and found my hat and skewered it on my head with a four-inch hat pin. I wore the hat because I knew my mother never visited without one. The pin I thought would be a comfort in case of...
Costis, I am speechless!Not noticeably, Your Majesty.
Costis bowed stiffly. I am here to make sure that you stay in bed, Your Majesty, because if this offends you and you order me summarily executed, it is no loss. Politically speaking.
Coming from light into the dark, he was looking ahead of him, not down at me. My lunge, as I came to my feet, took him in the chest as I drove the sword upward with the strength of my legs. Even ruste...
At one point I muttered, You learn something new every day. What are you learning? Sophos asked. To keep my mouth shut, I hope.
As a ten-year-old boy, the Thief of Eddis could stop a grown man in his tracks with a single look. Where had that look gone?
You know-- Eddis hesitated, not sure how far to push the Attolian Queen. -Go on. Attolia inclined her head.-I was going to say that you look like a polecat when you smile like that.
To be underestimated by an enemy is the greatest advantage a man can have.