Home > Work > The Crown of Silence (The Chronicles of Magravandias, #2)
101 " Life would become difficult again for a while, but I knew I’d have the strength to face it. "
― Storm Constantine , The Crown of Silence (The Chronicles of Magravandias, #2)
102 " Any priest could make a god for you, on a scrap of parchment with some spit and a smudge of black ink. He would name it for you and then it might act in your favor. If you ate the god, or rather the parchment bearing his name, you might have visions or be able smite an enemy with a thought. You could also banish demons who had procured temporary lodgings in your body. "
103 " Strangely enough, I saw our roles the other way around las time. I was the great magician and you were the poetic bard. But Taropat has changed that. I accept it willingly. "
104 " Tayven was so young and the strength that shone from him was more pathetic than total vulnerability, because he’d had to learn to breathe it, sleep it. "
105 " Shan had lived here, in close proximity to Taropat every day. Tayven felt a barb in his heart. Jealousy. "
106 " Natural rock formations looked like ancient temples, while ancient temples looked like natural rock. "
107 " What are we but despairing souls trapped in lumps of flesh? "
108 " How small, how fragile a human being was. No matter how powerful you might feel, whether magically or physically, ultimately others, in concert, could always stamp out your life. "
109 " To rid the world of one empire merely made room for another. "
110 " Why do you think I noticed you so much? This is a dream come true for me, but then it isn’t at all. I can’t change you. "
111 " Shan felt he’d lost the closeness he enjoyed with his mentor, because the others were there. "
112 " How was it possible to own such power? Khaster knew Tayven wanted him, so he couldn’t refuse. Was this any better than what Bayard had done earlier? He couldn’t tell. He just wanted to taste those lips. "
113 " I thought I could make a weapon out of you. It was not my desire to make you a force for the good particularly, just a force for effect. "
114 " The past lay between them, a stagnant flood of unspoken words and unexpressed feelings. "
115 " He was Caradorean, son of a conquered race. He was little more than a slave. Not like Val. Val had surrendered himself entirely to Magravandias, in body and soul. Now he was no longer the boy with whom Khaster had explored the forests above Norgance. Now he was the Dragon Lord, part of the emperor’s inner circle, where Khaster would never be invited. "
116 " Sometimes it felt as if he telling his own story, and he realized that mixed up with the tragedy of Khaster were images and feelings from when the Magravandians had sacked home. When he related Tayven’s violation, he spoke in the first person. Yet it was so different. "
117 " Some wisdom can be learned only from the young. I know this, because I do constantly. "
118 " The serpent shook itself and its image wavered. Tentacles rose from it, which presently Tayven realized were arms. The serpent had acquired a semi-human appearance. To the waist, it had the form of a beautiful boy which melded into the flexing coils. The creature’s limbs wove upon the air in a cruel dance. It smiled, showing sharp teeth, and a narrow forked tongue flickered out. "
119 " Bayard again eyed him speculatively, perhaps thinking that there was a new creature to snare, to use. Bayard always need plenty of creatures to deal with the intrigues at court. "
120 " I think the flaming brand symbolizes Anterity’s attribute. The fire is the will, the will to overcome, not to conquer and repeat the cycle of hatred. We shall only triumph if we affirm our own suffering as our responsibility. We will triumph once we can take action and relinquish reaction. "