Ornon says, Ornon-who-always-has-something-to-say says, the Thieves of Eddis don't have breaking points. We have flash points instead, like gunpowder. That's what makes us dangerous. -Eugenides
One cannot toss ambassadors back like bad fish, said Eugenides. You treat them with care, or you'll find you've committed an act of war.
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...
If I am the pawn of the gods, it is because they know me so well, not because they make my mind up for me.
I wouldn't destroy an entire house to destroy one man. But I would destroy a man to destroy a house.
I woke to find I had not been murdered in my sleep.
I know, Attolia soothed him. I did not say that I am afraid. He is, though, I think. Afraid of his own desire for power. He is not unused to wielding power, but it has always been in secret. I could,...
He shrugged. We all spend our time under the sign of the idiot, he said, and the matter seemed settled, at least as far as he was concerned.
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...
Calf love doesn't usually survive amputation, Your Majesty.
But does a good man let his circumstances determine his character?
Before you make a decision, he said, I want you to know that I love you.
A little danger adds spice to life.
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.
You didn't know I could do that, did you? he asked, conversationally.I did not, Your Majesty, Teleus gasped.My grandfather killed a man that way once, using the edge of the wooden sword.I hadn't reali...
Will you sit down and stop shouting? she asked. I’ll stop shouting. I won’t sit down. I might need to throw more inkpots.
Who was the Thief that she would love him? A youth, just a boy with hardly a beard and no sense at all... A liar, she thought, an enemy, a threat. He was brave, a voice inside her said, he was loyal.....
What would you do if you were King’s Thief, Gen? Chew with your mouth open in the royal presence? Chat with the court ladies, dropping the h’s at the beginning of your words and garbling the ends of m...
Weak kings who lost their tempers were notoriously destructive.