“You want us to bargain with a lizard?”“They’re not lizards, Father. They’re extraordinary creatures who werehere long before any human was crawling on this earth. They are warriorsand scholars and—”“He has long hair like a woman,” one of Sigmar’s sons blathered”
— G.A. Aiken
“And why does Father want me out there?You do know it’s a myth what they say about virgin sacrifices and dragons,yes?”“Of course I know that,” he snapped in such a way that Dagmar knewhe believed the myth to be true. “And after them three marriages, you ain’tmuch of a virgin yourself, now is ya?”“Those last two barely counted.”
— G.A. Aiken
“To be honest, Briec doesn’tconsider fights with humans as battles. I think he sees that more ashunting. Or a snack that runs.”
— G.A. Aiken
“This is a Steppes horse. Its speed, power, and endurance unparalleled. Do not let size fool you, Dolt. You do not have to be big to be strong. To be feared.” “But it helps.” “Your shoulders may be wide, but your mind is very small. Like peanut.”
— G.A. Aiken
“Braith turned and saw three of her cousins sunning themselves on boulders. Like lizards. Lizards in human form.“What are you doing?” Braith asked.“Enjoying the suns,” replied one.“It gives our scales a lovely bright hue,” said another.Braith blinked. “Except you’re all in your human form. So how does that help your scales?”They stared at her for several seconds before one stated, “You’re a bit of a know-it-all, aren’t you?”“How is that . . .” Braith shook her head. She wouldn’t go from arguing with one idiot to arguing with three.”
— G.A. Aiken
“Why are you doing this?”“That’s easy. Because I like you.” He grinned. “I like you a lot.”“Why?”“Because you make me smile.”“You’re Addolgar the Cheerful. Everything makes you smile.”“Not everything. And if I want to like you, Braith of the Darkness, I get to like you. Whether you want me to or not.”
— G.A. Aiken
“My father helped you with that. . that thing you do?” “Yes. Your father helped me with that peacemaking thing I do that keeps you happily killing for a living.”
— G.A. Aiken
“How’s your father?”“How do you think he is? You stabbed him in the foot.”“I would have aimed for his heart, but I wasn’t sure he actually had one. Do any of you have one?”
— G.A. Aiken
“No one referred toFearghus the Destroyer as the life of anyone’s party.”
— G.A. Aiken
“Hhhmm. A sense of humor.” He cocked his head to the side.“That actually might annoy me.”She frowned, ignoring the teasing sound to that oh-so-low voiceand, with heavy sarcasm answered, “Oh, well, that’ll keep me upnights.”
— G.A. Aiken
“Don’t make me cover your face with a pillow until you see my side of things.””Isn’t that called murder?”
— G.A. Aiken
“Lorcan rubbed his head. “Am I asking too much to want the little bitch dead? Am I?” It seemed Hefaidd-Hen learned long ago not to answer certain questions. “All I want is for her to suffer a painful, horrifying death. And for her head to be on a spike in front of my castle. That’s all I want.”
— G.A. Aiken
“She made you smile.”“Aye. Rhiannon always makes me smile.”Shalin dropped her head against her son’s chest. “Dark gods, I’ve lost you forever.”Bercelak rolled his eyes. “I think, Mother, that’s a tad extreme.”
— G.A. Aiken
“You ask me if you can eat dinner in your room, but you don’task me if you can torture Éibhear to take you flying?”Truly perplexed, Izzy asked softly, “Why would I ask you that?”
— G.A. Aiken
“She hadn’t seen gold since she’d lastbeen to her father’s home, when she would sneak off to meet him.Smiling at the brief memory of, as her mother called him, “the onewho gave me the seed which allowed for your presence.”
— G.A. Aiken
“What’s wrong with him?”“Nothing. He’s just. . just. .” “Just what?”“A peacemaker.” And she’d dropped her voice to a whisper. “What would I do with a peacemaker?” “The same thing I did with a whore.”
— G.A. Aiken
“Go on,” he offered magnanimously. “Feel free to piss on yourselves andcower helplessly.”Gods, sometimes his generosity overwhelmed him.”
— G.A. Aiken
“I won’t tolerate her hurting you, my son. I’ll kill the bitch first.”“Weren’t you the one who tried to cut father’s throat before he Claimed you?””He deserved it,”
— G.A. Aiken
“Nothing hurts me, Low Born. Absolutely nothing.”“How is that possible?” And for some reason he sounded as if he truly cared about her answer.“When you stop feeling anything, you find it quite possible.”
— G.A. Aiken
“How do you live with yourself, Lord Arrogant?” “Very easily, Lady Difficult. I find myself quitecharming.”
— G.A. Aiken
“I’m so in love with you, Braith,” he told her, and she felt in her bones that he meant every word. “And do you know why?”“I have no idea,” she replied honestly.“Because I am such an amazing dragon that I know I richly deserve a She-dragon as wonderful as you. See?” he asked, grinning at her. “How could I not love you when you’re so clearly made for me?”
— G.A. Aiken
“Now if you gentlemen,” she looked at Briec, “and whateveryou are, will excuse me.”
— G.A. Aiken
“Oh, gods. Not the flying!”“I heard you mounted my sister well enough.”“I want you never to make that statement again.”
— G.A. Aiken
“I know I’m not an easy She-dragon to. . not fear.” “I’m not afraid of you, Ghleanna. I’ve never been afraid of you. To be quite honest. . I think you’re amazing. I always have. Since the first time you ignored me.”
— G.A. Aiken
“Good gods, female,” Addolgar muttered. “What did you do with yourself before I came into your life?”“I lived quietly alone in my cave,” she snapped back. “And I was quite happy there, too.”
— G.A. Aiken
“It was a good thing I recognized you or I might have had a lovely meal of you with some parsley. And potatoes.”
— G.A. Aiken
“Izzy. Sweet, beautiful, but eternally strange Izzy.”
— G.A. Aiken
“she lived her life as a dragon and never understood those who didn’t. Why anyone would want to be human was beyond her understanding… And damn it all, she was brilliant!”
— G.A. Aiken
“There was even a story passed among the queen’s court that when freshly hatched, Rhiannon bit her mother on the neck when she tried to cuddle her new daughter. But Rhiannon didn’t believe that for one second. True, she believed she bit her mother, but she didn’t believe her mother had tried to cuddle her.”
— G.A. Aiken
“He was her father after all. True, a father whose funeral rite she planned to dance at and toast with ale, but her father just the same.”
— G.A. Aiken