The Song of the Lioness
The Immortals
Protector of the Small
The Trickster Duology
Coram: Keep an eye to yer saddlebags. There are some here as would steal
their own mother's teeth!
George: Who, me?
Alanna: (to Ralon) I'd as soon kiss a pig! Is that what you've been doing - kissing pigs? Or being kissed?
Jon: (to Alanna) You have good taste in enemies, even if you do make them your first day here.
Alanna: But I have to read the first chapter of this tonight in my free time!
Gary: Ah, 'Free time.' I've heard about that.
Alanna: (to Myles) The only thing I know is that I jump when I'm told to and I have no free time.
George: I trust my instincts, young master. In my line of work, you learn
quick to trust your instincts.
Alanna: What is it you do, George?
George: I-buy, and I sell.
Gary: You're a thief.
George: 'Thief' is a harsh word, Master Gareth. Why would you be thinkin' that I
am? You've still got your purse, and what's in it. Or you had better.
Stefan: I thought perhaps one o' ye would be comin' around. What lie is
Master Alan tellin'?
Gary: He says he fell down.
Stefan: Oh, aye, he fell. O'course, Master Ralon helped him fall, several times.
Poor li'l tyke didn't have a chance. But he got Master Malven a good 'un in th'
nuts t' start.
Stefan: If Ralon ever comes back from th' City wiv a full purse, George'll
have all our ears. George likes Master Alan.
Gary: Let George do what he wants. What do you mean, he'll have your ears?
Stefan: George has a collection. One slip an' he warns ye. Two, an' he takes an
ear—fer his collection. Three mistakes — He takes t'other ear an' all that's
attached. George likes things done right.
Alanna: I fell down, your Grace.
Duke Gareth: Mithros, boy—can't you think of a better excuse?
Alanna: This one works so well, sir. It—it has tradition behind it.
Duke Gareth: It certainly does. I've heard it from every page who's been
fighting that I ever trained—with a few exceptions.
Alanna: Well, sir, you don't believe me and I know you don't believe me,
but pride is satisfied all around. Your Grace.
Duke Gareth: (about Ralon) I wish you would thrash him. He deserves it.
Alanna: I will one day, sir. I'm getting tired of falling down.
Alanna: Ralon of Malven has beggars and thieves for ancestors. He's the son of a lizard and a demon. He has all the honor of a weasel. He can't even fight in the open like a man and a noble. He picks his fights in back halls—so no one can see him cheat.
Myles: The Gift is simply an ability. Not all of us have it, just as not all of us are quick-witted or have good reflexes. Magic isn't good or evil by itself. I believe you should only use it when you are absolutely certain your cause is just.
Myles: (to Alanna) Get back here! A storm's coming up—and if it's natural, I'm a priest!
George: And why do you find it so hard to think someone might like you and
want to do things for you? That's the way of friendship, lad.
Alanna: But I haven't done anything for you.
George: That's not how it works.
George: (After learning Alanna is a girl) You're a—you're a what!
George: Anyone who wishes to be a knight is mad, to my way of thinkin'.
George: I'll just go with you as far as the Temple District.
You're carryin' valuables, remember, and even I don't trust my folk completely.
Good swordsman you are, but you might be outnumbered. Besides, one of your
attackers may be a wrestler.
Alanna: Thanks. I love having my nose rubbed in my weakness.
Alanna: I should have stabbed you!
George: No. I won't let you stab me and ruin our friendship.
Myles: Not sociable, Alan? You'd better learn to be. A knight is
a social animal.
Alanna: I'd sooner kiss a—
Myles: Don't, please. Sometimes you're too frank for an old man.
Myles: I'm staying to watch the pretty little Eldorne girl try
to hook every eligible male at Court.
Alanna: If she doesn't succeed, it won't be because she didn't try.
Duke Baird: You like to be busy, don't you, Squire Alan?
Alanna: I don't like to waste my time. Is that the same thing?
Duke Roger: I appreciate your honesty, Alan of Trebond. Not many
dare be so open with me.
Alanna: Not many have insanity in their families, either.
Alanna: If hate is wanting to crush someone because you know they're evil, then yes—I hate the Duke of Conte.
Alanna: How can Thom live in such a cursed ugly place? I'd go
mad if I had to look at this all the time.
George: He probably doesn't notice. Most scholars don't.
Alanna: (to Thom) Don't take that arch tone with me, brother. I used to duck you in the fishpond. I'll try to do it again if you make me angry.
Alanna: (when George is hurt) Of course I care, you unprincipled pickpocket! Of course I care.
Raoul: (about Alanna's birthday present) Myles said he was damned if he would get up at this hour, but if you went down to the stables, you'd find something from him.
Gary: (about Alanna revealing she's a girl) Oh, I can't wait to
see their faces!
Alanna: Anyone in particular?
Gary: (laughing) Everyone. Just—everyone!
Alanna: (about her brandy) You—you drugged it!
George: Did you really think I'd let you fret yourself sick, with such an
important night ahead of you? (To Faithful). You knew. Why didn't you warn her I
was puttin' a little extra in the brandy?
Faithful: Cover her up well. She gets cold easily.
Faithful: (helping Alanna sneak into Duke Roger's room) There must be insanity in my family, too.
Coram: And here I thought the best part of ridin' with a knight was that she would be the one lookin' after me.
Coram: If I'd known I'd be ridin' with a legend, I'd've thought twice about comin' along.
Ali Mukhtab: You ride as a man, you fight as a man, you
think as a man ...
Alanna: I think as a human being. Men don't think any differently to women -
they just make more noise about being able to.
Alanna: Well, 'women of bad reputation' go without veils
among the Bazhir. All this time I haven't worn a veil, but it took me until
tonight to get a bad reputation.
Kuri: George Cooper, such a fright you gave me! What d' you
mean, sneaking into your mother's house like a thief!
George: (grinning) Mistress Kuri, I am a thief.
George: There are plenty of fish in the sea besides Prince Jonathan, and this particular fish loves you with all his crooked heart.
Coram: (after Alanna repairs her sword) Of all the crazy, stupid stunts. Ye'd think ye'd wait till ye recovered from the fireworks yesterday, but not ye. No, ye must prove ye're Lord Thom and can do anything.
Faithful: (about Alanna's bathing) Tongue and paws are all I
need.
Alanna: Is that why you smell after a night in the woods?
A Maid: (putting a glass of wine in front of Alanna) He sent it t'you, my lady. He said I was to tell you redheads must sit together to safety's sake, and he wonders if you might join him when this glass is done. Not meanin' any disrespect, but if you don't want 'im, I do!
Alanna: It isn't fair. You know everything about me.
Liam: I'll tell you someday, kitten - if you're very good.
Alanna: You're flirting with me.
Liam: Fun, isn't it?
Moonlight stared at her mistress, wondering why Alanna had
chosen to dismount and sit in the mud.
Swearing doesn't help, Faithful remarked. Besides, you woke me up.
"Does your worship want me to pull the curtains so the light won't hurt your
eyes?" Alanna yelled, beet red with embarrassment. "Shall I call you for the
noon meal, or will you sleep the day out?"
Coram: (To the palms of his hands) Life used to be simple.
Faithful: Probably more boring, too.
Coram: (to Alanna) It's your turn to fix breakfast. Gods help us.
Alanna: Shame your mother didn't drown you at birth.
Buri: What makes you think she didn't?
Alanna: (to Jon) Your artwork's improved. The one you did of Delia made her look like a cow. Though now that I think of it, maybe that was your subject matter -
Roger: You're cocky, aren't you? Killed anyone recently?
Alanna: No. It's so depressing to come back and find one's work reversed.
Daine: The Champion? The knight they call 'The Lioness'?
Alanna: Don't tell me. You expected someone bigger.
Alanna: (shouting) Great merciful Goddess! Of all the
gods-cursed, simple-minded -
Hakim: (to Daine) The Lioness has a temper. Sometimes it gets the better of her.
Alanna: By the way, can you wield a sword?
Daine: Me? Gods, no!
Alanna: I shouldn't be glad, but I am. If you were as good with the sword as you
are with the bow, I couldn't take the competition.
Numair: (to Onua) But that's my good side. You really should tell her some of my faults. Then again - please don't. I forgot you actually know my faults.
Daine: Does your ma know you're this silly?
Numair: The few grey hairs she has on her head are my doing. But I send her
plenty of money, so she can have them dyed!
Onua: I hope she beat you as a child.
Daine: (to Sarge) I just never met anyone like you.
Buri: (muttering) And if you're lucky, you won't again.
Numair: (after Daine stops her own heart to talk to the dolphins) You fiend! What on earth possessed you? You were dead! I ought to kill you myself!
Numair: (to the clouds) Do you hear her? She wanted to talk to dolphins, so she stopped her own blessed heart! Mithros, Mynoss and Shakith!
Onua: (after Numair's outburst) And men say we're emotional.
George: Don't call me 'gentleman'. I work for a livin'.
"This is a fine welcome you've given me, laddybuck," Alanna
said, trying to imitate her husband's speech as she approached. She bore a
gold-haired child on each hip. "Here I am, home from the wars, and you let me be
swarmed over by barbarians whilst you flirt with my friends."
"Excuse me," George said gravely to the adults, and to the children he plucked
from his wife's hold. Gripping the Lioness firmly, he bent her back in a
prolonged kiss that looked like a romantic scene in a play. Everyone, even the
men-at-arms posted along the walls, clapped, whistled and cheered.
"Does anyone in this land act like they're supposed to?" muttered Daine.
Onua heard her question. "They do in lots of places," she said, eyes twinkling.
"But this isn't 'lots of places', it's Pirate's Swoop. And if you think this
is strange, just wait till you've been here a couple of days."
Tkaa: She is no fool, the little one. There is something
quite serious on her mind.
Daine: She's only ten. How serious can it be?
Tkaa: And how old are you, grandmother?
Daine: (blushing) Fourteen.
Tkaa: Ah. A vast difference of years and experience. Certainly no one would
believe her affairs are nearly as vital as yours.
Tkaa: (about turning Numair to stone) It lasted for a breath, and then he shattered it, as if all I had done was pour clay on him and bake it. And then he asked me to do it again, to see if he could break the spell twice.
Daine: I hope you know a smart way to fight them. If you don't, I will think of a stupid way to do it.
Numair: Now to find Tristan, if he survived the excitement. I hope he did. I have a few things to say to him, and none of them are 'Goddess Bless'.
Rikash: Get that squirrel!!!
Cook: Get the what?
Rikash: This valley has a disease, one where cute little animals don't act like animals.
Numair: (to Daine, after turning Tristan Staghorn into a
tree): What kind is he, can you tell?
Daine: I think it's fair rude of you to turn him into a tree and not know what
kind he is.
Numair: Daine ... !
Numair: Goodbyes are sad things.
Fleetfoot: That is why wolves don't say them.
Numair: I always knew your kind was smarter than mine.
Short Snout: We knew that, too.
Kaddar: She's some commoner from the far north, it's said.
I'll be lucky if she knows which fork to use.
Captain: Oh, that won't be a problem. I understand these northerners eat with
their hands.
Kaddar: So nice to have friends aboard.
Captain: Power over animals, and a dragon ... If I was you, Highness, I'd
dust off my map of the tourist places and let her eat any way she wants.
Daine: It's only for a bit.
Alanna: If we don't wrap this up soon, I will be only 'a bit'.
Daine: I know I don't hold a candle to Alanna, or the Queen
-
Numair: That isn't strictly accurate. The Lioness is one of my dearest friends,
but she is not an exemplar of female beauty. Years and experience have
given her charm, and her eyes are extraordinary, but she is not beautiful. Queen
Thayet is astoundingly attractive, it's true, but you have your own - something.
You should wear blue more often. It brings out matching shades in your eyes.
Alanna: I heard that about my looks. I'll get you later.
Numair: How could I forget you, my dear? You're lovelier
than I remember. You must tell me everything I've missed. What changes
are in the palace, and at the university? Are you married, may I kill your
husband -
Alanna: Is that who I think it is?
Lindhall: She was his lover before he fled the country. Apparently there are no
hard feelings.
Daine: Numair warned me what happens when humans take on
the shape of immortals - we can't change back.
Rikash: Wanted to try dragon's shape, did you?
Daine sticks her tongue out at him.
Alanna: Until we leave here, you can't talk with her unless
she is chaperoned or you can manage it in public.
Numair: A fine thing when I can't talk to my student alone. Let's go, then.
Daine: (to Alanna) Did Varice have a chaperone?
Alanna: Perhaps she didn't want one for what she was here to do.
Kaddar: Women aren't up to the discipline of military life.
Daine: You must tell Lady Alanna that sometime. I'd do it from a distance.
Kaddar: I hope you lose.
Soldier: We will defend our Emperor to our deaths
Daine: That's fair foolish. My friends are a bit hard to kill. They've been dead
already.
Ozorne: I have magic! I - I have Stormwing magic!
Rikash: Of course you do, Sweetheart. Do you how to use it? You'll get the hang
of it in a few days or so. If you live that long, of course.
Daine: I thought they'd killed you. I lost my temper.
Numair: Magelet, that is the greatest understatement I have heard in my life.
Daine: When's the coronation?
Kaddar: Full moon. I wish you could be there.
Numair: I don't.
Daine: It's a very great honour meeting you.
Queenclaw: Of course it is.
Broad Foot: (about the Mauler) I don't know which is worse, when
he's cross, or when he's trying to be funny.
Numair: If it's all the same, I won't stay around to study his moods.
Numair: It just doesn't seem right. I feel that I'm taking
advantage of your innocence. A man of my - years, and reputation.
Daine: Taking advantage of - And what reputation?
Leaf: Funfunfunfunfun.
Rikash: I'm only a Stormwing, not a philosopher. For that, you must talk to Salmalin - if you don't mind the headache he'll give you.
Leaf: (about the dragon) Biiiig.
Jelly: Too big.
Rikash: Gods help us, it's the Stork-man, come to make sure I'm not corrupting you.
Rikash (drawling): You're breaking my heart.
Daine: Got a bit of sand in your crop? A swallow or two of oil should wash it
right out the end that does your thinking for you.
Rikash (laughs): I deserved that. Don't mind me.
Daine: Oh, what I've got in mind isn't near so quick as killing!
Kel: My brothers didn't mention you.
Salma: Timon Greendale, our headman, recognised service here six years ago. I
was brought in five years back - just in time to meet your brother Conal. Don't
worry. I won't hold it against you.
Neal: I suppose I am being rash and peculiar, again, but if it means helping my friend Joren improve his studies, well, I'll just have to sacrifice myself. There's nothing I won't do to further the cause of book learning among my peers.
Neal: How can I be silent and yet apologise?
Tkaa: Still determined to go to war with the training master, Nealan?
Lindhall: You must excuse Bonedancer. There was no such thing as manners when he was alive, so he thinks he need not learn them now.
Neal: (defending Kel from teasers) Joren is so pretty. Say, Garvey, are you two friends because you can have him?
Neal: Adversity builds character?
Kel: (to Peachblossom) Bite him.
Neal: Now, if I may shave before our bread-and-water feast?
Kel: You don't need to.
Neal: I live in hope, as the priest said to the princess.
"Where did you learn all that?" Owen breathed, his eyes wide.
"Some I learned at the Yamani court," Kel replied calmly, gulping down a cup of
water. "Some Eda Bell taught me this summer."
"I'm going to treat you with the reverence I reserve for the Crown Jewels,"
Roald assured her, his eyes crinkled with mirth.
"Me too," added Seaver and Merric.
Kel: Don't look so tense. It'll be over before you know it.
Owen: Not if I kill Master Oakbridge it won't. What a fusspot!
Kel: I think it's been tried before, without success.
"Say, Neal," Owen said as they got into line to be served, "Uline
of Hannalof looks beautiful"
"She is not for me," Neal said gravely. Everyone turned to look at him. "She's
betrothed to Kieran haMinch - they're announcing it this week. She'll brighten
their gloomy northern castles like the moon. Now, the queen - she was more than
beautiful tonight. Did you see her, in that white gown embroidered in scarlet?
The jewels in her hair, like stars in the midnight sky? No other country has a
queen to compare. And she has the deadly core of a Sirajit sword, beauty and
death in one splendid woman." His eyes were misty as he considered Queen Thayet.
"Murdon Fielding, the Sage of Cria, wrote, 'Squire, give thy queen thy purest
love. Let her be the living emblem of the power of the Goddess. Her beauteous
countenance will be thy guide, her favor and thanks your payment. Let her - '"
Someone passed Kel one of the long, thin loaves of bread served with soup.
Before Neal could go on, his friends attacked him with the loaves, battering him
until the bread fell to pieces.
Neal brushed crumbs off his clothes and fixed them with his loftiest glare.
"Soulless, heartless pages that you are," he said, "I ignore you." He cut ahead
of them in line so he could be served first.
They walked into the waiting room, the first pages there. "You,"
Neal said, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms. "You are an
education, Keladry of Mindelan."
Kel put her hands on her hips. "I'm not sure that's a compliment."
Neal grinned. "Neither am I," he teased.
As Seaver, Merric, and Owen came in, Kel pointed at Neal. "You will pay for
that, on the practice courts," she informed him.
Owen promptly went over and clapped Neal on the shoulder. "It was good knowing
you," he told the older boy solemnly.
Neal: (to Owen) You are a bloody-minded savage. I hope you get kidnapped by centaurs.
Numair: When in doubt, shoot the wizard.
Kel: I'm off to the practice courts. You want to come?
Neal: I'm about to commence four years obeying the call of a bruiser on a horse.
I refuse to put down what may be the last book I see for months.
Raoul: When people say a knight's job is all glory, I laugh and laugh and laugh. Often, I can stop laughing before they edge away and start talking about soothing drinks.
Dom: You're alive. Most people who go five rounds with my lord can only babble about funeral plans.
Royal Courier: His Majesty said with all deliberate speed!
Raoul: That's how we're doing it. Deliberately.
Kel: (to Raoul) I've said it before and I'll say it again, my lord. You are a bad man.
Daine: (about the griffin) He'll stay with you now that you've
hand-fed him.
Kel: Oh, splendid. If only I'd known.
Kel: You get used to anything - (looks at Daine's head on an eagle body) Well, maybe you don't.
Kel: You're related to Neal.
Dom: Sadly, yes. I call him Meathead.
Osbern: Let's have an inspection. Mithros witness, if I find one
strap undone, heads will roll.
Giles of Veldine: But, Sergeant Osbern, sir, I like my head.
Raoul: We do try to eat. I go all faint if I don't get fed
regularly. Only think of the disgrace to the King's Own if I fell from the
saddle.
Someone: But there was that time in Fanwood.
Osbern: That wedding in Tameran.
Someone else: Don't forget when what's-his-name, with the army, retired.
Raoul: Silence, insubordinate curs! Do not sully my new squire's ears with your
profane tales!
Dom: Even if they're true?
Kel: (about Raoul, to Neal) You'd particularly like the tilting
practice we have every day when we aren't in the field.
Neal: Tilt with Lord Raoul? Why don't I just lie down in front of an elephant
and let him step on me? I bet it feels the same.
Kel: I know my lord. You wish I were a boy. But being a girl is
more fun. More fun-er? Is that right?
Wyldon: Go lie down, Mindelan. You're tilt silly.
Alanna: So Neal, do you feel educated?
Neal: Incredibly. Why, words simply fail me about how educated I'm getting.
Neal: (to Kel about Owen) It's your own fault for encouraging him when he was a first year, you know. Now he thinks he's a human being.
Neal: (about Joren) I suppose he could have changed. I myself,
have noticed my growing resemblance to a daffodil.
Kel: You do look yellow around the edges. I hadn't wanted to bring it up.
Neal (slinging an arm around her shoulder): We daffodils like to have things
brought up. It reminds us of spring.
Yancen: (about Wyldon) I hate it when he thinks up new things.
Kel sees Alanna and drops the bowl she's carrying.
Raoul: (wickedly) I'm sorry. Should I have warned you?
Alanna: (kicking Raoul in the shin) Don't tease. Of course you should have
warned her.
Kel: I'm proving to myself that I'm not afraid of you.
Chamber of Ordeal: But you are.
Kel: I like lying to myself. It's fun.
Neal: (to Jump) I was winning that card game. There was no need
to grab me.
Kel: If you're not bleeding, he was being nice, and it's not fair for you to
play cards with ordinary folk. (To Tobe) He remembers all the cards dealt.
Raoul: Maybe we'll even be here long enough to dry out.
Faleron: What's dry?
Alanna: Good question.
Both Neal and Alanna: Next question.
Alanna: You rode with me too long, Queenscove.
Neal: (bowing) And I learned things every step of the way, Lady Alanna.
Neal: Lady Knight, come on. Let's go see if the Stump's
forgotten us.
Kel: Don't call Lord Wyldon that. I doubt he's forgotten you. He's never
threatened anyone else that he'd tie his tongue in a knot.
Neal: (nose in the air) Threats are the last resort of a man with no vocabulary.
Duke Baird: Well, I have a vocabulary. I have often wished I could tie your
tongue in a knot. Several of them. I can describe them, if you like.
Neal: It's my fate to be misunderstood.
Dom: Mithros save us, they'll allow just any freak of nature up
here, won't they? Meathead! They let you out with no keeper?
Neal: Insubordinate! That's Sir Meathead, to you.
Neal: (about Numair's spell) Not the Sorcerer's Dance! That one
is so old it creaks!
Numair: The spell may creak as much as it likes, if it works.
Numair: (about Neal) I can turn him into something for you, if
you like.
Kel: He was actually complimenting me. It happens so rarely, I'd hate to see him
turned into anything for it.
Kel: (about Peachblossom) I'll kill him. I'll kill him very dead
and leave him for the border ghosts ...
Dom: Can we do it later? We lose daylight if you kill him now.
Kel: What does Lady Alanna know of spies? That's how he [Neal]
said he knew of them, from riding with her.
Dom: He also mentioned her husband. I think that's more to the point.
Merric: Why didn't I start my page-training with year-mates who were sane?
Neal: She [Kel] took a blow to the head, I think. It leads her
to say odd things. She needs a stay in the infirmary, just until she comes to
her senses.
Wyldon: It appalls me to say this, but for the first time I find myself in
agreement with Sir Nealan. Do not let it go to your head.
Aly: I proclaim the shallowness of the world and of fashion. I scorn those who sway before each breeze of taste that dictates what is stylish in one's dress, or face, or hair. I scoff at the hollowness of life.
Alanna: (about Aly's blue hair) What have you done to
your hair?
Aly: It's the latest fashion in Corus. It's the height of sophistication.
Alanna: It's as sophisticated as a blueberry.
Aly: (to the ostlers and men-at-arms) She's [Alanna's] not your mother. You try being the daughter of a legend. It's a great deal like work.
George: Maude had them cook all your favorites.
Alanna: All my favorites? They'd have to roll me north, I'll be so fat.
George: Ah, but you'll puke it all up on the trip, so eat away.
Alanna: That's disgusting.
A slave: So were you always mad, or did it come on you when you
was took?
Aly: I'm told it runs in the family.
Kyprioth: Hello there. I apologize that we weren't able to meet
earlier. I hope your journey here wasn't too harrowing.
Aly: It was delightful. All lovely and serene, like sleeping on lilies, only
without the bees in my nose.
Kyprioth: I don't want you to be homesick.
Aly: (innocently) But that's so thoughtful. I'd thank you, but I just
don't have the words. Until I find them, you might tell me just who you are
supposed to be. Won't that be lovely?
Kyprioth: Dear, you're being deliberately obtuse. You know a god when you see
one.
Aly: He [George] never mentioned you. At our house, we usually
tell each other what gods are monkeying about with us today.
Kyprioth: Of course he never mentioned me. What sane man wants the people
around him to know he's favoured of a trickster?
Aly: Why should I dance to some trickster's tune?
Dove: She's [Sarai's] prettier. They always go to her first.
Kyprioth: Too much information is bad for mortals. Just look at your history if you want proof.
Aly: You're a god. Why not make yourself look young and
handsome?
Kyprioth: I like myself this way. I look amiable and inoffensive, like an elder
statesman, don't you think?
Aly: No elder statesman I know.
Fesgao: Why do I not think you're here for a drink?
Aly: I'd as soon gulp down a mouthful of fire.
Chenaol: You won't get to like it if you won't drink it.
Aly: But I'd like the use of my tongue until I die.
Aly: So many compliments from Your Grace tonight! (fluttering
her eyelashes) I will become conceited, and the other servants will be hurt that
they have not drawn your gracious attention.
Winna: Aly, the Players lost a star performer when you didn't elect to train as
a professional fool.
Aly: (shrugging) The Players' loss is Your Graces' gain. Mine, too, of course.
Nawat: (to Aly) Your feathers are ruffled.
Nawat: (describing Bronau) He will drive off your own kill and
steal your nestlings. He should be mobbed before he steals any of yours. Shall
you and I mob him?
Aly: Unlike a hawk, Bronau comes with a flock of soldiers. You and I are
outnumbered.
Nawat: We could mate. In a year our nestlings would be large enough to mob
anyone we like. In two or three years we could have still more nestlings, until
no hawk will venture near our territory. Shall I begin to court you? Do you like
grubs or ants better?
Aly: It takes longer for human nestlings to get big enough to mob. And I'm too
busy to court. I have the goats to fetch, for one.
Nawat: I will be here. In case you change your mind about mating.
Chenaol: You and your games, Bright One. It would be so
wonderful if you ever once gave a body a hint about what you had in mind. I'll
take my knife back, please.
Aly: She isn't very respectful.
Kyprioth: (mournfully) Respect is hard to get when you're a trickster. People
are so often inclined to think the worst of me.
Aly: I can't imagine why.
Aly: (teasing) Kyprioth, I'll share breakfast with you.
Kyprioth: Spare me. Sausage has no appeal for me whatever.
Aly: Why, I'm just as true and honest as dirt. And I'm even more charming than dirt.
Dove: I don't trust anyone who feels you should like them because they love themselves.
Sarai: He's [Bronau] very handsome and charming -
Dove: He's old. It was disgusting.
Sarai: He's a man of the world.
Dove: So he's twice as likely to get you pregnant as a boy your own age who
loves you and doesn't know what he's doing.
Alanna: Kisses are serious things. You talk of them as if
they're party favors.
Aly: They're serious for you, Mother. They're party favors for me.
Kyprioth: I love deathbed prophecies. They always put the cat among the pigeons.
Ulasim: Did you sigh over his [Bronau's] horse's last droppings. You watched him go for long enough.
Nawat: The red ants are spicy. Try one.
Aly: I thank you, no.
Nawat: (grinning) It's washing day.
Aly: Leave the wash alone. You're not a crow anymore.
Nawat: (forlornly) No. I am a mateless human.
Ochobu: Did the pesky crow have to come?
Aly: I like the crow.
Raoul: Age and treachery!
Neal: Youth and skill! Don't let the old lady cut you, Kel!
Alanna: Whose side are you on? You were my squire!
Alanna: (taunting Kel) You got lazy!
Kel: Lazy, is it? I'll give you laziness, shorty.
Aly: You could at least pretend to be sorry you bothered me.
Kyprioth: And deprive you of whining?
Kyprioth: It's really a toss-up as to what kills him [Hazarin] first, his heart or apoplexy of the brain. Actually, I have a bit of a wager on with my friend the Graveyard Hag about that.
Kyprioth: Stay here. I have a wager to collect from the Graveyard Hag. I told her it was folly to bet on a Rittevon king actually having a heart.
Stormwing: Got something for me? Dead kings always mean trouble,
fighting in the streets, with plenty of hate and bodies. A meal for us.
Rubinyan: Not today. Order will be preserved.
Female Stormwing: You've trouble at your backs, mortal, and you're too full of
yourself to notice! If I were you I'd watch for the Trickster's Choice!
Aly: Do they mean me, or just the changes you're setting in motion?
Kyprioth: They're Stormwings. They're just stirring things up.
Aly: Somehow, I don't believe you.
Kyprioth: That hurts me. You have no idea of how much that hurts me.
Kyprioth: One of my friends keeps your lovely mother company.
She catches your mother's prayers and keeps them for me.
Aly: You'd better hope Mother never finds out, or you'll have worse than
your sister and brother to contend with. You don't want the Lioness hunting for
you.
Kyprioth: I know that. I assure you, I am being quite careful.
Nawat: I am too young for Sarai. As a human I am not even a
month old. Sarai is ancient compared to me.
Dove: Oh, tell her that when I'm there to see. I want to watch her face when you
do.
Aly: Oh, what I think doesn't matter. I just live my life at the god's beck and call. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to snoop.
Aly: Kyprioth, Kyprioth, Kyprioth, Kyprioth. Don't pretend you
aren't nearby. All this is too important to you. Talk to me.
Kyprioth: You are getting to know me a little too well.
Aly: I thought you were worried about hawks.
Nawat: Those as well. But a hawk I can see. While I watch the hawk, who is to
say the serpent is not behind me?
Mequen: Gods, save me from the nerves of women!
Aly: He [Bronau] lies.
Sarai: I know that. His lips move, don't they?
Aly: (about Junai's wound) My mother has one just like that, only it's healed.
Ochobu: Idiot luarin thought he could hold me with three mages. Is he alive to learn he can't?
Winna: (about Aly's slave collar) That comes off. It was pointless before. It is brutally pointless now. You are free under Kyprish law as well as in your own spirit.
Nawat: Now me, I think this form is fine. Human tools interest
me. And human women aren't so bad.
Aly: Now don't you start. I have too much on my mind.
Nawat: I know. And Sarai tells me I must sneak up on you.
Sarai: Nobody's going to buy our Aly! Who is this interloper?
George: Now, what is this? Broken nose, eyebrow scar - did we raise such a savage?
George: A god laid you a wager? Which god would this be?
Aly: Kyprioth.
George: Kyprioth. I might have known. Show yourself, you piece of
Stormwing dung. I know you're listening. You're as vain as a cat when anyone
speaks your name.
Kyprioth: (cheerfully) There you are, George. How have you been, my good fellow?
It's been ages.
George: You steal my daughter and then you hide her from me. Is
this the way you reward my service? Aly's no pawn of yours, to be whisked in and
out of your mad tricks.
Kyprioth: Such fatherly wrath. I would be terrified, except, well, I'm not.
Aly: I'm going to make your life a misery.
Kyprioth: I look forward to it.
Aly: I think Mother will understand.
George: She'll understand all too well. I should have known that no daughter of
hers would choose the easy road.