Quotessence
Home / Authors / Elizabeth Bear
Elizabeth Bear

Elizabeth Bear Quotes

Author

Filter quotes by topic

Famous Elizabeth Bear Quotes

“Dost trust me, my Christofer?” Kit raised his eyes over the top of his book and met Murchaud’s gaze. “Thy Christofer? Surely not-“ Murchaud braced his boot on the low table between them, turning a black chess knight between his fingers. “Then whose else art thou?” Which gave Kit pause. “The Devil’s. I suppose.” “And not thine own?” Murchaud stood, a movement too fluid to seem as abrupt as it was, and began to pace, revealing to Kit that this was not an idle conversation. “Had I ever that luxury?” Which made Murchaud turn his head and blink softly. “Does any man?” “Or any elf? No.” Kit sighed. “Aye, my Prince. I trust thee as much as I might trust any Elf-Knight.” “Which is to say not at all.”

“She smiled as he came closer, her eyes as violet now as twilight, matching the shadows that surrounded them and lay under her cheekbones. The lines of her collarbone glinted like knives, and he could see the rings of her larynx through the translucent skin of her throat. He thought the bones of her fingers might crumble if he simply reached out and took her hand; even her amazing hair was lusterless and dry in its floor-long beads.”

“Will swallowed despite the lump that now always blocked his throat, and with a flash of the insight that had given him Hamlet, William understood his Queen in return. Not the ragged, painted old woman before him, but the girl who had led a man like Francis Walsingham to beggar himself in her service, when with his dying breath he had known she could never show his gratitude. A woman who had given Kit Marley to the Faeries, when it would have been easier and safer to end his life and let him tumble into an unmarked grave. It doesn’t matter if Essex betrays her. It doesn’t matter what Scottish Mary did or did not know when she was led to the block. Elizabeth understands that every drop of blood stains her own hands. She knows. She knows she goes to judgment to face each life she’s wasted. And she’s always known. This is not a Prince who loves to kill.”

“His heart filled up with something vast and terrible at the realization, a shadowy whirl of wings and storm and light, and he knew why men died for Elizabeth. He would have died for Elizabeth himself. And he understood as well that there were things bigger than Elizabeth, bigger than England, for all they were things for which he did not have a name. Faith. God. Liberty. None of it was enough. Worse things had been done in those names than Elizabeth’s.”

“The trees leaned over; their wind stirred fingers interlaced like bones. Kit found himself ducking as if through low doorways whenever he looked up, and drawing shallow breaths that tasted of moss and musk and mildew. His right eye showed a smoky power moving within the coarse-barked trunks. The trees were young, saplings scattered among a few old giants, the wood had been cut from memory, and Kit wondered if that were the reason for the appalling stench of hate and old blood clotting the senses.”