I would very much like to strangle someone. Why don't you go away until I decide it isn't you? Megan Whalen Turner More Quotes by Megan Whalen Turner More Quotes From Megan Whalen Turner You will make the boy Thief king?" he [Nahuseresh] said. "When you could have had me?" Attolia allowed a slight smile. "A fine revenge for the loss of a hand," said the Mede, close to snarling. "I will have my sovereignty," said Attolia thinly. "Oh, yes, a fine one-handed figurehead he will make," spat Nahuseresh. Then he remembered Attolia's flattery earlier that morning. "Or do I insult your lover?" he asked. "Not a lover," said Attolia. "Merely my choice for king. Megan Whalen Turner revenge kings morning He loves me, and I reward his love by forcing on him something he hates. In the evening, after we dance, he rarely returns to the throne; he dances with others or moves from place to place through the room. The court thinks he is trying to be gracious, sharing his attention. Only I see that he moves always to the empty spot and the court always moves after him. He is like a dog trying to escape his own tail. He indulged himself in one brief moment of privacy, and almost died of it. Relius, he hates being king. Megan Whalen Turner hate kings dog As soon as the guards where gone, I lay down on my stone bench and dumped the king and his threats out of my head without ceremony. They were too unpleasant to worry over anyway. Megan Whalen Turner kings gone worry The younger one looked to be completely useless. Megan Whalen Turner useless It made Costis wonder for the first time just how much the stoic man really wants to hide when he unsuccessfully pretends not to be in pain. Megan Whalen Turner pain want men I can't leave her there all alone, surrounded by stone walls... She's too precious to give up. Megan Whalen Turner wall giving-up stones The Magus must had eyes like a thief because he told Pol to stop and dismount to walk alongside me, one hand resting just above my knee ready to shake me if I fell asleep. He shook hard and resorted to pinching periodically. Megan Whalen Turner thieves eye hands Is that what the wine is for? To help you think?" "Oh, the wine. The wine, Costis, is to help hide the truth. It doesn't work. It never has, but I try it every once in a while just in case something in the nature of the wine might have changed. Megan Whalen Turner wine trying thinking What kind of man refers to himself as safely dead? Megan Whalen Turner kind men All my life they had made choices for me, and I had resented it. Now the choice was mine, and once it was made, I would have no right to blame anyone else for the consequences. Loss of that privilege, to blame others, unexpectedly stung. Megan Whalen Turner choices responsibility loss I want you to steal something." I smiled. "Do you want the king's seal? I can get it for you." "If I were you," said the magus, "I'd stop bragging about that." His voice grated. My smile grew. The gold ring with the engraved ruby had been in his safekeeping when I had stolen it away. Megan Whalen Turner voice gold kings He looked at their shabby clothes in puzzlement. “We were traveling anonymously for safety—” explained the magus. “But surely—” “—and then we were robbed on the road.” “Ah,” said the king, “the danger in being anonymous. Megan Whalen Turner clothes safety kings 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... A fool, she answered back. A fool and a dead one. She ached with emptiness. Megan Whalen Turner voice liars boys He lies to himself. If Eugenides talked in his sleep, he'd lie then, too. Megan Whalen Turner ifs sleep lying You have to believe him, because he's going to have your entire palace up in arms and your court in chaos and every member of it from the barons to the boot cleaners coming to you for his blood, and you are going to have to deal with it." Attolia smiled. "You make him sound like more trouble than he is worth. "No," said Eddis thoughtfully. "Never more than he is worth. Megan Whalen Turner sound believe blood Because you do not believe?" "Oh, no," said Attolia bitterly. "Because I believe and do not choose to worship. Megan Whalen Turner worship said believe 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. Megan Whalen Turner kings today country 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 denied the pain, the entire palace would have been in a panic already, Eddisian soldiers on the move. He'd meant to deceive them, and he'd succeeded. It made Costis wonder for the first time just how much the stoic man really wants to hide when he unsuccessfully pretends not to be in pain. Megan Whalen Turner pain kings moving The queen had passed him, so close he'd felt the stir of air, and he guessed that if she had turned her head, only a little, and met his eyes, he might have died right there. Megan Whalen Turner queens eye air 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? Megan Whalen Turner men boys years