The king lifted a hand to her cheek and kissed her. It was not a kiss between strangers, not even a kiss… — Megan Whalen Turner Copy Share Image
He should have said something, why hadn't he? Costis wondered. In fact, the king had. He had complained at every step all… — Megan Whalen Turner Copy Share Image
It made Costis wonder for the first time just how much the stoic man really wants to hide when he unsuccessfully pretends… — Megan Whalen Turner Copy Share Image
...I asked Ochto what in the name of all that was sacred he thought he was doing. "Helping you," said Dirnes. "Why?"… — Megan Whalen Turner Copy Share Image
Sounis had been thinking of Ambiades. "He would have been a better man under different circumstances." Gen looked at him. "True enough,"… — Megan Whalen Turner Copy Share Image
Were you lying?" "I never lie," he said piously. "About what?" "The sand, the snake." For a young man who never lied,… — Megan Whalen Turner Copy Share Image
And the Earth had no name. The gods know themselves and have no need of names. It is man who names all… — Megan Whalen Turner Copy Share Image
We are not philosophers, we are sovereigns. The rules that govern our behavior are not the rules for other men, and our… — Megan Whalen Turner Copy Share Image
You didn't know I could do that, did you?" he asked, conversationally. "I did not, Your Majesty," Teleus gasped. "My grandfather killed… — Megan Whalen Turner Copy Share Image
Sometimes, if you want to change a man's mind, you have to change the mind of the man next to him first. — Megan Whalen Turner Copy Share Image
Muse of poetry, come to his aid, I thought. Could the man produce one more metaphor of husbandry? He seemed to be… — Megan Whalen Turner Copy Share Image
Your Majesty, please get down. My friend Aris is really a very good man, and if you fall off that wall he's… — Megan Whalen Turner Copy Share Image
I stayed only two days in the capital. I was welcomed by a cheering citizenry, who threw flowers at my head. It… — Megan Whalen Turner Copy Share Image
No man can choose to serve only himself when he has something to offer his state. No one can put his own… — Megan Whalen Turner Copy Share Image
Where are my guards, Teleus?" He was still speaking softly. Three men dead and he wasn't even breathing hard, Costis noted. — Megan Whalen Turner Copy Share Image
Coming from light into the dark, he was looking ahead of him, not down at me. My lunge, as I came to… — Megan Whalen Turner Copy Share Image
As a ten-year-old boy, the Thief of Eddis could stop a grown man in his tracks with a single look. Where had… — Megan Whalen Turner Copy Share Image
I am an ambassador," Akretenesh warned me, anger bringing his confidence back. "You cannot shoot." "I don't mean to," I reassured him,… — Megan Whalen Turner Copy Share Image
...That he'd seen...two people, a young man and a woman, sitting on invisible furniture with their feet up, reading books and eating… — Megan Whalen Turner Copy Share Image
Being six feet off the ground does give one a sense of superiority. — Megan Whalen Turner Copy Share Image
Your Majesty, you just-" Costis stopped. "Just what?" the king prompted wickedly. Nothing would induce Costis to say out loud that the king had… — Megan Whalen Turner Copy Share Image
I woke with a terrible headache and wobbled around 'till I fell out the window." "You what?" "Fell out the window. That one over… — Megan Whalen Turner Copy Share Image
“He looked at her and tilted his head very slightly in wonder. He had forgotten, as he always forgot, how beautiful she was. Her… — Megan Whalen Turner Copy Share Image
“Useless the Elder was looking at me in amusement. “Not exactly stalwart, are you?” he said.” — Megan Whalen Turner Copy Share Image
“The magus said thoughtfully, "That lying little monster complained about everything: the food, the horses, the blankets, the company. He even found fault with… — Megan Whalen Turner Copy Share Image
The king lifted a hand to her cheek and kissed her. It was not a kiss between strangers, not even a kiss between a… — Megan Whalen Turner Copy Share Image
What he brought out was a wooden gag they put in someone's mouth before doing something drastic, like cutting off a leg. — Megan Whalen Turner Copy Share Image
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. — Megan Whalen Turner Copy Share Image
“It might have been preferable," Eddis admitted, dryly, "if you had thrown off your chains of bondage solely for love of me. It would… — Megan Whalen Turner Copy Share Image
