G.A. Aiken Quotes

“Are you in great physical pain, or is that your thinking expression?”

— G.A. Aiken

Now. Now, Annwyl. No need to curtsy. A simple nod of your head and absolute worship will be more than enough.

— G.A. Aiken

“You want me to be honest with you?" Vigholf snapped. "You want me to tell you why I have my hungry face as you call it? Because of you. Because I'm hungry for you. If there's anything I want to eat-it's you."
Rhona stepped back, hands on hips, and accused, "You cannibalistic bastard!"”

— G.A. Aiken

“Normally, I'd lie and connive and do whatever necessary to make you take me into the south."
"But ... "
More tears began to flow. "But that thing ... "
"Thing? What thing?"
"That thing ... in one's head ... that tells you when something would be wrong to do. It won't let me do it."
Feeling a sudden high level of annoyance, Gwenvael carefully asked, "Do you mean your ... conscience?"
Her tears turned into hysterical sobs, and she went down on her side, her head dropping into his lap.
"Dagmar! Everyone has a conscience."
"I don't!"
"Of course you do."
"I'm a politician, Gwenvael! Of course, I don't have a conscience. At least I didn't. Now I'm cursed with one. And it's your fault!"
Somehow he knew that last bit would happen.”

— G.A. Aiken

“It was those damn wool socks. He didn't realize he loved her until she
told him about out-negotiating a god of war-the most haggle-loving of the
gods-with socks!”

— G.A. Aiken

“She started it," Briec stated before holding his "perfect" daughter out to Talaith and announcing, "She
looks to need nourishment. Unleash your breasts for her.”

— G.A. Aiken

“What are we doing with him?" Briec asked eagerly. "Are we throwing him out a window? Let's throw him out a window! Or off the roof!”

— G.A. Aiken

“Hysterical laughter. Why did he keep hearing hysterical laughter? Fearghus opened one eye to stare at his two siblings. The were practically falling over each other they were laughing so hard. They woke him up from a sound sleep for this? "What?"
His current mood wouldn't allow for this. And definitely wouldn't allow for him. Gwenvael choked out an answer. "She braided your hair, brother."
"Like a horse's mane," his sister added.”

— G.A. Aiken

“Take deep slow breaths," it told her. "It will calm you."
Calm her? Slow breaths? Instead she sucked in a breath to tell it to
go to hell, but ended up sending her late-night snack spewing across the
dragon's foot.
Staring down, it muttered, "Oh, that's just vile."
Talaith's eyes narrowed and suddenly she found her voice. "And yet, I
feel remarkably better," she sneered.”

— G.A. Aiken

“Your cold, inflexible heart makes me burn to be inside you."
"Charmer.”

— G.A. Aiken

“His affection for the human grew steadily by the day. Sometimes by the minute. And it wasn't simply her beauty, but her utter lack of fear of everything and anything except her brother. She didn't fear dying. She didn't fear battle. And, most importantly, she didn't fear Fearghus. She touched him. Ran her hands across his scales and through his mane.
But it was when he covered her up with the fur and she sighed his name in her sleep, that he lost his heart.”

— G.A. Aiken

“A bored Gwenvael is an entire town
destroyed accidently.”

— G.A. Aiken

“I'm your uncle?"
Oh. So that's what was bothering him. Izzy could have done a lot of things at this moment to assuage Eibhear's annoyance. A lot of things.
She didn't do any of them.
Instead she said, "Well ... you are my uncle." She brushed a bit of nonexistent dirt off his bare shoulder. "And I was your ward until years later when you finally had your vile, dirty uncle way with me."
"Izzy.”

— G.A. Aiken

“You can stick your questions up your ass."
He slammed his tail in front of her. "I don't think I heard you,
little witch."
"You heard me just fine and stop threatening me with that thing!"
She kicked his tail.
By the gods, she was absolutely adorable!”

— G.A. Aiken

Now if you gentlemen," she looked at Briec, "and whatever
you are, will excuse me.

— G.A. Aiken

“To be honest, Briec doesn't
consider fights with humans as battles. I think he sees that more as
hunting. Or a snack that runs.”

— G.A. Aiken

“He sighed. A year since he'd left her the morning after the final battle with her brother. A year since he'd held her in his arms. A year since he'd kissed her. A year since he'd buried his head between her thighs. A year since she'd punched him in the face.”

— G.A. Aiken

“Of course you don't trust Braith. You don't trust anybody," Ghleanna reminded their brother. "You don't trust the air."
"Because it tends to become unseasonably chilly when I'd prefer it to be warm. It's as if it does it on purpose.”

— G.A. Aiken

“Princess Keita," the dragon began, "this is Elina Shestakova of the Black Bear Riders of the Midnight Mountains of Despair in the Far Reaches of the Steppes of the Outerplains." He faced Elina and, smiling, said, "And Elina Shestakova of the Black Bear Riders of the Midnight Mountains of Despair in the Far Reaches of the Steppes of the Outerplains, this is Keita the Viper: Princess of the Royal House of Gwalchmai fab Gwyar, Second-Born Daughter and Fifth-Born Offspring to the White Dragon Queen of the Southlands, Protector of The Throne, and Bound Mate to Ragnar, Dragonlord Chief of the Olgeirsson Horde."
Keita narrowed blue eyes at the dragon. "Was that really necessary, Curled Horns?"
His grin did not falter. "It felt necessary and good. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to get back to working with Elina Shestakova of the-"
"Do not bore me with that ridiculously long name yet again!" the royal roared.”

— G.A. Aiken

It isn't that I dislike you so much, big, fat dragon. It's that I don't like you enough.

— G.A. Aiken

“She's just being sensitive. You put a girl in jail and forget about her for a few months, and they all take it so bloody personally."
"You forgot about her?"
"She's lucky I did. She'd been sent to kill Rhiannon."
"Then why isn't she dead?"
Celyn sighed. "It was a sad, weak attempt, really. She clearly didn't want to do it. Auntie Rhiannon just felt bad for her.”

— G.A. Aiken

It wasn't the first time he'd run for his life. And it most likely would
not be the last. In the past few decades, though, he'd mostly run from
angry fathers who'd found him where they felt he should not be. Or he'd
run from town guards-sent by angry fathers who'd found him where they
felt he should not be.

— G.A. Aiken

“I've
enjoyed our conversation, knight. It's been nice talking to someone
who can-"
"Create full and complete sentences?"
That grin returned and, for a moment, his heart actually stopped
beating. "No, it was nice to finally meet someone whose arrogance is
only rivaled by the arrogance of the gods.”

— G.A. Aiken

“I feel nothing."
Crouching down beside her, Bercelak took a cloth from off the table and placed it over the wound. "Nothing? You feel no pain?"
"Oh. I feel pain. Lots of pain. But nothing else.”

— 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

“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

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

“Kill first, ask questions of the corpse later”

— G.A. Aiken

“You want us to bargain with a lizard?"
"They're not lizards, Father. They're extraordinary creatures who were
here long before any human was crawling on this earth. They are warriors
and scholars and-"
"He has long hair like a woman," one of Sigmar's sons blathered”

— 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

“Braith lifted his head from her shoulder, kissed him. Centuries and her kiss still made him as weak as one of her fists to the face.”

— G.A. Aiken

“Lady Talaith. Is that what you're wearing to dinner tonight?"
...
"And exactly when did I start owing you an explanation for
anything I do?"
"She's got you there, brother." The pair turned on him so fast,
Gwenvael stumbled back against the window, almost falling out of it.
"Don't bother. I'll accidentally hit myself in the head later.”

— 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

Listen to me well, Low Born, don't think for a second I won't cut your heart from your worthless hide and wear it on my head ... like a hat.

— G.A. Aiken

“Please don't hug me. Please don't hug me.
But she did. And now Bram had two sets of black eyes glaring at him.
Finally, he said out loud, "It's not me! I swear!" Rhiannon laughed and leaned back from Bram.
"So cute! Isn't he cute, Bercelak?"
"No."
"Bercelak's only teasing."
"No, I'm not.”

— G.A. Aiken

She looked down at the letter she had clutched in her hand. It could wait until tomorrow.
Silently she turned and went to get something soothing to drink. Or, at the very least, some hard ale. She needed something to help her sleep because the last image she'd witnessed before turning away from the chamber would have her awake and obsessing for hours. The image of Annwyl the Bloody, known terror of the Dark Plains, lovingly running her hand down Fearghus's snout ... and Fearghus the Destroyer letting her.

— G.A. Aiken

“But she's a nice lass."
"Addolgar, she poisoned you."
"But she didn't kill me. That's what's important.”

— G.A. Aiken

“Talk to me about your plans, Bram," Ailean said as he walked into the hall. "Come back to the war room." "You have a war room?"
"Don't you?”

— G.A. Aiken

“She wants a truce.
With me?
Aye. She's quite. adamant about it. I can try to put her off until Ghleanna is at full strength but - No, no. See what her terms are.
My Lady?
I am not my mother, peacemaker. I can be reasonable. It's a new time for us all. A new time of hope and of change and of - You want access to the coast so you can attack the Lightnings, don't you?
And it is time for those barbarian Lightnings to bow down before me.”

— G.A. Aiken

“For the first time in six months, she wasn't thinking of her own misery. She was thinking of others-and how to make their misery worse.”

— G.A. Aiken

“Nothing is worse than trying to force others into roles that do not fit them.”

— G.A. Aiken

“She glanced behind her and saw Addolgar. He gave her a small wink and the tiniest smile, and, Braith would be forced to admit, she'd never felt so ... safe before. Not safe in the sense that her head would not go rolling across the chamber floor, but just that someone, other than herself or her still-missed mother, actually cared for her. That someone was watching out for her.
And that someone was Addolgar.”

— G.A. Aiken

“Take good care of your dragon," Kachka said as she moved on. "He will need your protection, being so weak and pathetic.”

— G.A. Aiken

“Oh, sorry. I'm not ... uh ... interrupting something that will make me uncomfortable, am I?”

— G.A. Aiken

“You have strong thighs and are very, um, handsome.”

— G.A. Aiken

“Now"-she leaned in a bit-"would you like to go flying with Grandmum before we take you home, so you can watch her toss cows around for no other reason than her own amusement?"
"Sounds unnecessarily cruel."
"Exactly!" Rhiannon used her tail to place her granddaughter on her back. "See? Already you're learning what it means to be part of this family.”

— G.A. Aiken

“Because she can construct and verbally repeat full and complete sentences?”

— G.A. Aiken

Daughters of the Steppes had their three-year-olds playing these games to help them understand the concept of divide, conquer, and destroy so that the next city or town over just gives us what we ask for.

— G.A. Aiken

“You're not leaving us, are you, cousin?"
"If you're going into the city, you may want to have a healer look at that chest of yours, brother. All that scratching you've been doing lately can't be good," Vigholf said.
"It might be scale-fungus," Meinhard added.
"And your pretty princess with the beautiful smile and alluring tail won't like that much."
"'Cause it spreads, it does!"
"Aww, now, Ragnar! That's rather a rude gesture!”

— G.A. Aiken

“She again patted the ground beside her. "Now come. Sit beside me. I will play with your cock while we eat."
Elina hadn't even finished chewing the second bite of her food before the dragon suddenly dove into place next to her. A smile on his handsome face, his eyebrows wiggling in anticipation.
He was adorably pathetic.
"Take care of your horse first, Dolt."
"Take care of him?"
"He cannot spend the all night wearing saddle and equipment."
"Aye, but ... "
"I am not going anywhere. My hands will still be here to play with cock when you get back."
"Promise?”

— G.A. Aiken