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I was listening, the king said, aggrieved. I closed my eyes to listen better. What did you hear? I'm not sure, he said. That's why I was listening so closely. I may have to ask the baron to repeat some parts of his report on his grain tax. I am sure you can arrange an appointment. I am sure I can too.

Megan Whalen Turner

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Megan Whalen Turner
Age: 59
Born: 1965
Born: January 1
Novelist
Writer
Asks
King
Appointments
Sure
Parts
Report
Eye
Kings
Closely
May
Taxes
Repeat
Better
Listening
Grain
Aggrieved
Listen
Repeats
Baron
Hear
Reports
Appointment
Eyes
Closed
Arrange

More quotes by Megan Whalen Turner

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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.
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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.
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Tell me a story then...keep me occupied. A story?...What makes you think I can tell a story? Insight, said the king, Go on.
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Anyone who can steal the king's seal ring can manage the locks on his record room.
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How do you know that, Philo, dear? But Philologos had had enough of being condescended to. Because, Lamion, I am not as dumb as you think I am, even if you are. By the time Lamion had parsed this to make sure that there was in fact an insult at the end of it, Hilarion had laid a restraining hand on his arm.
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And the Earth had no name. The gods know themselves and have no need of names. It is man who names all things, even gods.
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I was not so comfortable with my new authority that I could say 'We eat the chicken now!' but the magus had seen that I was considering it.
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I hate horses. I know people who think that they are noble, graceful animals, but regardless of what a horse looks like from a distance, never forget that it's as likely to step on your foot as look at you.
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I wanted Ambiades to understand that I considered myself a hierarchy of one.
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On the bed, Eugenides stirred restlessly. Upset at the sight of blood? he said. Not my wife, Ornon. Your blood, the ambassador pointed out. Eugenides glanced at the hook on his arm and conceded the point. Yes, he said. He seemed lost in memory. The room was quiet.
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Then come out, said the king, helping him, knowing you'll never die of a fall unless the god himself drops you.
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I grieved, but a part of me felt a lightening of a burden that I had carried all my life: that I could never be worthy of them, that I would always disappoint or fail them. As an unknown slave in the fields of the baron, I knew the worst was over. I had failed them. At least I could not do so again
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We are taught to treat a practice sword with all the respect of a real weapon, so no thoughtless mistakes are made Oh... In Eddis, we learn to keep tack of the weapon we have in our hand.
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Would you have your hand back, Eugenides? And lose Attolia? And see Attolia lost to the Mede?' Eugenides's eyes were open. In front of his face the floor was littered with tiny bits of glass that glittered in the candlelight. 'You have your answer, Little Thief.
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Her queen danced like a flame in the wind, and the mercurial king like the weight at the center of the earth.
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I'm dying of boredom. Or maybe just dying.
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That is ridiculous, she said. The king agreed. Like falling in love with a landslide. Only you could fail to notice.
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You're awake, he said. Phresine is not, pointed out the queen. Oh? You gave her lethium. She gave it to me first.
Megan Whalen Turner
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But there are other words for privacy and independence. They are isolation and loneliness.
Megan Whalen Turner
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Were you lying? I never lie, he said piously. About what? The sand, the snake. For a young man who never lied, he seemed surprisingly unoffended by the question.
Megan Whalen Turner