AND Y'ALL SERIOUSLY NEED TO READ THIS BOOK. HOMIGOODESS, IT'S AN AMAZING BOOK.
AND IF YOU HAVE READ IT, TELL ME IN THE COMMENTS AND THEN WE CAN FANGIRL OVER IT TOGETHER.
Now, onto the quotes! Since there are so many, I' splitting it up into two posts. Maybe the second one will be posted later this week.
~ She was born Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee, Crown Princess of Kildenree, and she did not open her eyes for three days. ~
~ Ani looked at the nearest swan straight in one eye. "No more bread. You may go." ~
~ Ani patted her aunt's cheek as though she were the elder of the two. "But you can teach me to speak with the swans." ~
~ They were not to go to the pond because "the young crown princess might fall in and drown, with her face bloated and purple like a sauced plum, would you like that?" ~
~ Falada, I am late. Tirean is gone from her stall. My father must already be riding.
The boy did not give me enough oats, said Falada. ~
~ "That is wonderful, Anidori," he said with all the force of a proud father. ~
~ He is probably a colt with wobbly legs, said Ani, or an old gelding who slobbers and has to be fed oats by hand. ~
~ "It might help to know where you're lost from, or where you're lost to, if you see my point, and then I could push you in the right direction." ~
~ "You might've told me that you were thirsty and saved my boy Finn the trouble of carrying you in. I suspect you fainted on purpose just to get inside my house and onto a bed. Hmph." ~
~ "There, there now. No more crying. It's all wetness and no comfort at all." ~
~ "I'm sorry," said Ani. "Thank you. You don't have to sleep out there tonight."
"That's certain. My charity lasts about one night on thin hay and then I get tetchy." ~
~ "What's all this?" said the other boy. "She sounds like she's from around Darkened, but she's not from around Darkpond, or we'd know her, you hear me, Finn?" ~
~ "Look now, you dolts," said the girl, "Finn's sure to be carrying a seedcake from Gilsa, and we can't get a crumb of it like this." ~
~ "My name's Tatto. I'm the son of a captain of twenty. That's why I'm a pageboy already, and me with only twelve years."
"Oh," said Ani, "Congratulations."
He narrowed his eyes at her to see if he was catching her in a mocking tone. She shrugged, meaning she did not know if it was a good thing or not to be a pageboy at twelve. He shook his head and muttered, "Forest-born." ~
~ He patted her shoulder, then looked at her quizzically. He touched his eyebrow and smiled at her with the energy of a good, secret joke. She wondered what state they were in, hoping the charcoal had not smeared. ~
~ "Name's Conrad," he said, "I keep the geese."
"Kiss her," someone shouted over the din of breakfast.
Conrad jerked his head toward the yeller and yelled back, "Shut it or I'll stuff your nose holes full of breakfast, and I'll clean it and you off the floor until next morning if I have to." ~
~ Ani's thoughts were pulled back to the moment by a loud, unlovely honk. A broad-headed gander stepped out of the pen and knocked Ani's leg with his beak. She tumbled backward in surprise and landed on her backside. ~
~ "Quick. Razo. Beier. That sulky old ram . . .he beat down a hole in his pen . . .got into my chick coop . . .I tried to stop him, but I-"
Without a word, two of the boys grabbed the nearest crooks and fled the hall. The door shut and the girl faced the hall. Immediately Ani noticed that the girl's expression changed. She no longer fought for breath, and a creeping smile pressed dimples into her cheeks. "But I couldn't stop him because I was so busy rigging a bucket of oat mush above the door." ~
~ "It's a payback," she said, grabbing a cold bean pie. "They put colored eggs in one of my chickens' nests for a week. I poured every medicine I knew down that poor hen's throat and laid witch-bought charms around her nest until I finally spotted a bit of point on some hay. Devilish, they are." ~
~ "I did tell about it to those who shut up and listened, so shut it now and I'll tell. It was two weeks or so ago, and I was heading to the apothecary near the city gate for what I thought was a sick chicken, and the Streets were all lined with people." ~
~ The door swung open with force, its knob thumping against the wall. Razo, a short buy with a dark, defiant head of hair and an expressive face that was a grim and severer then, stood with hands in fists. Beier stood behind him, holding their unused staffs. Their hair and shoulders were dripping with a gray slop. ~
~ "I guess I have overstepped myself, and you've every right to be angry at me, if you're angry, of which I'm not entirely certain, since you seem to be laughing at the same time." ~
~ "Oh, you might think I'm trying to pawn off my job of breaking him onto you. I can pay you. I think. I'm unfamiliar with this kind of business. How much would be fair?"
Ani covered her hand, and the man groaned and muttered angrily at himself, "Blast, I've done something again. You don't offer to pay ladies. You've insulted her again, you daft, clumsy brute." ~
~ Ani found Conrad in a group playing at pick-up sticks, and she asked him if they were to go to the fields.
"Maybe," he said.
"Thank you so much, Sir Helpful One," said Enna. ~
~ "That's true," said Razo. "I haven't heard much of strange stories for years, and when Ideca served us rotten cold bean soup for the third time last week, I couldn't believe it myself." ~
~ "Another lost supplicant? Moseying about the horse grounds like it was your own court." ~
~ "I can see that one can never pay back Gilsa for the fear that she will give again." ~
~ "I'm such a dunce, truly I am, and I went home that night after we spoke and you rode the horse, and I made that terrible error, made you feel as though I thought you were of less worth than a stone, I'm sure. Well, you know, I felt like a kingly dolt, as I should've. I hadn't a right to come here and ride around like a fool and insult you and leave without explanation, except that I've never met a goose girl before, and you're not what I expected, though that's no explanation, I know. Still, I thought I'd better come back and bring you flowers, because I read that a gentleman gives a lady flowers, and I thought maybe I'm not a gentleman, but no reason not to treat you like a lady, isn't that so?" ~
~ "Well, the rain made them a mess, the flowers, half of them bald of petals and the stems weak as noodles, and I was beginning to think that flowers were a silly idea, that you'd think, I don't know what, but I kept them all week because the last couple of days I couldn't escape to come and explain, and yesterday the flowers just flat died. So when I left today I didn't have any flowers, and wasn't sure I'd find you anyhow, so I grabbed what I could find, and it was food." ~
~ Jok rushed towards her, honking all the way as though he would bite her, but she honked once to stop his advance, and he turned and waddled away.
"What was all that?" asked Geric, standing. ~
~ "Well, I'll have none of that, some brazen bird speaking harsh words to his mistress. After all, I'm a gentleman." He struck out his tongue in an ungentlemanly face and ran after Jok. The goose soon realized he was being pursued and fled across the field, flying in short spurts and running as fast as his flat fleet could propel him. Geric slipped once on the wet grass but quickly regained his feet and grabbed Jok around the middle. ~
~ "It's time for an apology," he said, walking back to the beech with Jok in hand, "I've become an expert in apologies today, so I know, little brother, that it's time." ~
~ "I'm sorry, my lady," said Geric, rubbing his arm, "but I failed to force an apology out of the offending goose."
"You're not likely to, either. He's a naughty bird. They all are."
"Poor company."
"Oh, but I like my geese. Like cats, they can't be told what to do, and like dogs, they're loyal, and like people, they talk every chance they get."
"Though they'll not deliver half so good an apology as I do." ~
~ "Easy, easy, my lady, for your tongue's losing its gentility from speaking too long to geese." ~
~ "By the way, Geric, um, did you see my shift that first day, when I rode the bay?" ~
~ "I won," said Geric, fighting to speak while exhaling.
"You . . .did . . .not," said Ani, "And your horse is taller." ~
~ "I know," she said, "I won't tell anyone. You'll see that I won't. And Isi . . .can I still call you Isi? It fits you. I want to tell you how I believe you. I don't know why. I wouldn't believe Razo if he pricked his finger and told me he was bleeding, and your story's almost as crazy as your bedtime tales, but I really do believe you. And when you get tired of worrying and mourning your horse and trying not to be afraid, tell me and I'll do it for you a while so you can shut your eyes and sleep peaceful." ~
~ "Right now I'd like all my troubles to stand in front of me in a straight line, and one by one I'd give each a black eye." ~
~ "I saw my ma do that once" - he ointed at the tree trunk - "but to a milk pail. Kicked and chased it clear across the yard, crushed it to a ball of metal. Really." ~
~ Ideca scowled at the thought, as though too many yellow girls could ruin anyone's day. ~
I hope you enjoyed these! Like I said before, I'll try to post the rest of the quotes later this week!
