C.L. Wilson Quotes

My friends ... today, we are not Fey, Celierian, or dahl'reisen, but brothers, united and strong, each of us honorable and worthy warriors of Light. We are the steel no enemy can shatter. We are the magic no Dark power can defeat. We are the rock upon which evil breaks like waves. We are warriors of honor, champions of Light.

Oh, Ellie, you look beautiful. Like a Fey-tale princess.

Ellysetta was sitting at the secretary in Rain's suite, penning a note to her parents, when Bel burst through the doors. The other members of the quintet followed so swiftly that all five warriors nearly ended up in a heap on the floor. They were breathless and flushed, perspiration trickling down the sides of their faces.
Kieran bent over, hands on his knees, and dragged air into his lungs. "Well done,brothers. We beat the smug chervil."
"You all look like you could use a drink." Cool and unwinded, Gaelen smiled at the new arrivals from the sofa near the window. "Water? Or perhaps something a little stronger to help you regain your strength?

But the Dark cannot claim what Light does not surrender.

Calberna's prince was too big. Too male. Too unsettling. Too appealing. Too… everything. And for her, that made Dilys Merimydion pure, deadly poison wrapped up in a dangerously tempting package.

Live well.
Love deep.
Tomorrow, we die.

What do you fear so much, that you would run so hard from what you want?

To Calbernans, love and happiness were not simply emotions. They were as essential as air and water. A Calbernan could not live without them.

She felt him bow his head to rest his jaw on her hair, the touch feather light. Tears beaded in her lashes

Send word down the line," he said. "We'll camp here for the night."

Valik nodded and started to turn his horse around.

"And Valik? There are lamps in the carriage that are apparently supposed to help her back heal faster. Have them set them up in my tents. I'll see to the men while you get her settled." At Valik's raised brows, Wynter added, "Your face is prettier than mine, or so I'm told. She may find it easier to do what you ask than what I command."

"You're forgetting she kicked me in my pretty face last time I asked her to do something she didn't want to do."

Wyn gave a grunt of laughter. "Better than kicking you in the balls." Then he sobered. "And see to it she actually eats and drinks something." She'd taken little nourishment all day, and though he'd allowed it, knowing anything she ate was likely to come back up once they started moving again, they were stopping for the night now, and she needed to eat. Her body needed sustenance to heal. "If she balks, tell her I'll force it down her throat myself if I must."

Valik shook his head. "I'll let you tell her that." He rubbed his jaw. "I want to be able to chew my dinner.

If honor were reserved only for those who never err, none of us would be worthy, Rain answered.

Call him. Claim him. Speak his Name. Make him thine before all others.

Two lovers, two hearts, one soul.
Only joined can they be truly complete.
Only joined can they survive the darkness.

Ellysetta Baristani." Belliard's voice caused her to stop and turn back around. "Even should you clothe yourself in rags and dirt, you would bring honor to the Fey.

Shei'tani ... wilt thou swim with thy beloved in a river of dreams?

She'd never in her life looked at a man and felt like a starving beggar standing before a sumptuous feast. She'd all but licked her lips at the sight of him.

What's this?" Primage Dur squinted at the glow of magic in the forest before them. Twelve shining warriors in red leather stood interspaced between a line of gnarled trees, blocking the advance of the Eld. "Who are they?"
"Dalh'reisen," Azurel hissed.
"Are they ... singing?

Our women - our wives - are the heart of Calberna. Without them, Calbernan males could not function. We would die. Just as you would die without the heart that beats in your chest."

He reached out slowly, laid three fingers lightly on the thin fabric that covered her left breast. Her breath caught in her throat. She stared at him in shocked silence. She made no attempt to move or to remove his hand. There was nothing sexual or teasing about his touch this time. It stunned her all the same.

"But for all its strength, the heart is a vulnerable thing," he continued. "It needs must be surrounded by a cage of bone to protect it. At all cost, at all times, the heart must be protected." His hand turned over. Now it was the back of his fingers that caressed her skin just above the neckline of her gown, the touch featherlight, impossibly gentle. "Calberna's sons are those bones. We are the spear, the sword, the unbreakable shield that protects Calberna's vulnerable heart. It's why we are born. It's what we live for.

I hadn't thought you such a faithless coward. You are a princess of the Summer Throne, wedded Queen of the Craig, and my wife. You swore an oath, before a priest and your father's court, to accept my counsel and my care. You swore to offer me all the fruits of your life. And now, you would deny me that which you swore to offer? Do you have so little honor?"
The accusation stole the silver from her eyes, leaving them pure, plain gray filled with shock and dismay. "I ... No! Of course not! I'm no oathbreaker."
"Then come to your bath. Accept my care, as you swore you would. Offer me the fruits of your life, that I may dine once more on peace instead of war.

Arrogance is no substitute for experience,Fey.

I am a Prince of Calberna. I have trained my whole life not only to lead our warriors to victory in battle, but also to serve and protect.

Ellysetta Baristani is my shei'tani." His eyes found hers. "My truemate." A murmur of voices rippled through the crowd.
"Please tell the court what a truemate is."
"A truemate is the person who holds the other half of a Fey's soul." His gaze never left hers, and Ellie felt the magic of his voice wrapping her in imperceptible weaves of longing. "It is the most sacred bond known to any Fey, more sacred than that between a king and his subjects, more sacred even than that between a mother and a child.

The aged Summerlea nurse pushed past Valik and Laci and stalked over to his sickbed. "You are supposed to be sleeping." Her face scrunched up in an expression of severe disapproval. She didn't care that he was king. She chided him like she might any misbehaving schoolboy.

He almost smiled. It was clear Tildavera Greenleaf was accustomed to being in charge, and equally accustomed to speaking her mind and having her orders obeyed. But this was one order he had no intention of heeding.

"I've slept long enough. Khamsin told me you were the best healer in all of Mystral, and it's clear she wasn't exaggerating. You did a fine job bringing me back from the brink of death. I'm sure you can keep me clinging to life a while longer."

The old woman's lips pursed. "My patients do not 'cling to life,' " she snapped. "I pride myself on their making a full and miraculous recovery. But carting them all about the countryside with their insides hanging out is not at all conducive to that outcome!

His light blue shuma and silver torque did nothing to hide the mass of cuts, scrapes, and purple bruises that covered his body and made his iridescent tattoos practically glow by contrast. He had a dark bruise under one eye that ran all the way down to the ulumi-lia tattoo on his cheekbone, and another on his jaw.

"This?" He gestured to his battered frame. "Ono, moa halea.I was invited to partake in a wrestling match yesterday afternoon."

"A wrestling match with whom? Kukuna the Stone God?"

His grin flashed, then faltered as the gesture tugged at his split lip. "It was a very intense match. And you have been reading the legends of my people. You are curious about Calberna. This is good."

She grimaced. "Don't jump to conclusions. I read most of those legends before I met you so I could teach the children at the school about Calberna." Then, because curiosity got the best of her, she asked, "So which one of Wynter's men beat you to a pulp?"

His brows rose. "I am unpulped."

"Not from where I'm standing. Or are you saying the other fellow looks worse?"

He cocked his head to one side, as if considering, then gave that charming half grin again and said, "About the same. We declared it equal contest."

"Who did you leave unpulped then?"

"It is of no concern. We had our match. We tested each other's skill and resolve, and came away with a new understanding of each other."

Hiding from the monsters only made them stronger.

What in the Haven's name just happened?"
Dazed and still trembling from the overload to her senses, Ellysetta floated in Rain's arms, her limp body draped across his, incapable of autonomous movement. She could barely think straight, let alone summon the strength to actually move.
Rain's chest rippled as he dragged in a shuddering breath. "I don't know." His voice came out hoarse, raspy. He swallowed, then tilted his chin against his chest to glance at her. A grin twitched at the corners of his mouth. "But I hope it happens again.

One of the signs (you) displayed (said): QUESTION AUTHORITY. Comments or slogans of this nature cannot and will not be condoned.

His hand trailed down the side of her face, brushing back spiraling tendrils of hair. Come, shei'tani, dance the skiles with your mate.

I am not a good man, shei'tani," he corrected. "I never have been. But for you I will strive to be better.

He must prove himself strong enough to protect her, gentle enough to win her heart, and worthy of the great gift of her love and her unconditional trust. She must find the courage to embrace the darkest shadows of his soul, and the even greater courage to bare the shadows of her own soul to him. When all barriers are sundered, all secrets revealed and accepted, she can complete the bond; and they will no longer be two separate people, but rather one person, one soul, complete for eternity, stronger together than either could ever be apart.

Rain watched as his five best warriors squeezed into the tiny parlor, picked their way through the jungle of wedding gifts as if tiptoeing through a nest of Drogan sand vipers, and settled down with stone-faced stoicism to proceed with the humiliating un-warrior-like task of opening presents ...
Five lethal glances speared him. For the first time in a thousand years, Rain Tairen Soul threw back his head and laughed.

I am the steel no enemy can shatter'
I am the magic no dark power can defeat.
I am the rock upon which evil breaks like waves.
I am Fey,warrior of honor, champion of Light.'
the warrior's creed

Let love, not fear, be your guide.

I watch my loved ones weep with sorrow,
death's silent torment of no tomorrow.
I feel their hearts breaking, I sense their despair,
United in misery, the grief that they share.
How do I show that, I am not gone ...
but the essence of life's everlasting song
Why do they wee? Why do they cry?
I'm alive in the wind and I am soaring high.
I am sparkling light dancing on streams,
a moment of warmth in the fays of sunbeams.
The coolness of rain as it falls on your face,
the whisper of leaves as wind rushes with haste.
Eternal Song, a requiem by Avian of Celieria
from Crown of Crystal Flame by C.L. Wilson

You are a force rarely born to a world, something we Elves call leinah thaniel, the Song that sings all Songs, the Mirror that shows all Mirrors, the Change that changes everything.

I will not share you." Still holding his gaze, she drove her body down onto his. Tiny threads of lightning danced over his skin in a shocking web of blue-white light. He gave a choked cry. His spine arched. His buttocks clenched tight. The tendons in his neck stood out like cords of steel. His hips surged again, powerfully, rising up to meet her downward slide. She felt the shock of it to her bones.
"I will not share," she cried out fiercely, one final time as both of them shattered.

What would Garrick have said about Wynter's Summerlander Queen? Khamsin stopped by a sculpture of his laughing father holding an infant Garrick over his head. Young Wynter and his mother were holding hands nearby, dancing in the grass.
"Tell me about this day," she begged. "What was it like? You all look so happy."
Garrick would have liked her, Wynter decided. He would have liked her very much.

If a woman was unattached and in possession of a pulse, she would not long remain unwilling in the face of a determined Calbernan's courtship.

The last time I saw him, he was hustling his wife away from the table, and she was shedding clothes as she went. Ah, gods." He rubbed his face. "I pray they made it to their rooms before ...

I am born a thousand times

When I see you,

I live a thousand lives

When I am with you,

And I die a thousand deaths

When you leave.

I'm the forest fire, and you're standing there with a glass of water saying you can put me out. But you can't!"
He arched his brows. "Considering that I've spent the better part of the last fourteen hours proving that I can, in fact, light your fire and put it out over and over again, I'm vaguely insulted by that remark.

I don't want you."
He moved so quickly she barely had time to gasp before he lifted her off her feet, fused his mouth to hers, and kissed her until her brain melted. Then he set her back on her wobbly legs and said," That was for the lie. And for future reference, myerina, wrapping your legs around a man and commanding him to pleasure you is not an effective way to illustrate your lack of interest.

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<> I love you... I want you... I need you. The words chanted in her head with the beat of her pulse, repeating over and over. His voice - or was it hers? - grew more insistent with each utterance. <> Come to me. Give yourself to me.

Death offers us hope, at least. Not for this life, but for another.

What happened yesterday was a mistake, but it's over now. In the past, I've forgotten it, and so should you."
His brows rose. "You have forgotten? This, I do not believe." He stepped closer again. She retreated up another stair. "What passed between us was not forgettable. I am not forgettable. Not to you."
"You have a high opinion of yourself."
"No higher than deserved. But I know when a woman looks at me and likes what she sees. And I know when she wants more.

There are no fates I cannot change, but this fate is one I cannot change without you. You are my strength, Rain. You are the courage I've always lacked."
He gave a choked laugh, and tears glittered in his eyes. "If I am your courage, then why does this idea of yours leave me so frightened?

Mama always used to say it's better to choke on a bitter truth than savor a honeycake lie.

Thou art mine, Dilys Merimydion. Mine and no other's.

Every Fey warrior and shei'dalin born in the Fading Lands learns very early in life that, like it or not - fair or not - there will be many days when they must decide between a bad choice and a worse one. Today is such a day.

Keep looking like you want to eat me up, moa halea, and I'll let you." His voice was a hard, rough rumble.

He held up his index finger. "Rule one: in any dispute between mates, the
male is always to blame, even when he is clearly blameless. Rule two" - his middle finger joined the
first - "whenever in doubt, refer to rule one.

Such a dangerous word, "why." Because so often its answer led to places a person didn't want to go. Vulnerable places.

Come to think of it, Your Majesty, I believe I must still be growing. Either that, or you are shrinking.

. "You will be fine, moa kiri. You are strong. Life and magic and strength flows through your veins. You are a wellspring of power, a queen of all waters. All the life and energy and vitality in every ocean, every sea, every river, lake and stream lives in you. And if you need more, then take it from me. What is mine is yours without question or limits. So long as there is breath in my lungs, you will never stop breathing. So long as my heart beats, yours will never stop. Whatever pain you have, let me bear it for you. I offer my strength and magic and life force to nourish your own. Stay with me, moa kiri. Live for me.

Wanting love is not selfish, Rain. We're all born missing the connections that make us complete.

If you wish to serve me, as you have bloodsworn yourself to do, you must do so with honor. And that does not include introducing yourself by name to people like my mother in order to terrify them into submission."
"Kem'falla - " Gaelen protested.
"Don't bother to deny it," she snapped.

Battered and bruised but still fighting for dominance his was not the selfish petty pride that made bullies of lesser men but rather the quiet
determined dignity that turned men into heroes and made heroes crawl back to their feet from the bitter dust of defeat and stand tall once more.

He raised her hand to his lips and kissed it, a tender gesture that made her heart melt. Come. Let us dance the skies together.

Like the sea, from which we derive our gifts, we are wild at heart, and deadly when angered.

You were chastising me. You may continue.

My beloved is the sun
And I am the earth that thrives only in her warmth. My beloved is the rain
And I am the grass that thirsts for her quenching kiss. My beloved is the wind
And I am the wings that soar when she fills me with her gentle strength.
My beloved is the rock
Upon which rests the happiness of all my days.
- The Elements of Love, a poem by Aileron v'En Kavali of the Fey

You but winnowed out those who have made their pride a funeral shroud." Jaren met Rain's eyes. "Our world has changed, Feyreisen. I have watched great Fey cities die, seen our forests fade back into desert, and listened to my shei'tani weep for the children her womb will not bear. It seems to me when the ways of the past lead only to death, then change is the only hope for life.

I think women are in need of - " Wynter broke off to give a bark of incredulous laughter. "Have you met my wife? Oh, wait. You have. On the farkingbattlefield!

You think a courtship and a hunt are two separate things." Ari grinned, showing gleaming white teeth with battle fangs fully extended. "They're not.

What in Helos's name had just happened? The Calbernan had turned unexpectedly and caught her gaze upon him and then…
She dragged in a breath, then another. Ragged. Shaken. She couldn't even begin to describe what had happened. It was as if, with one look, he'd dived into the deepest, most secret parts of her soul, places no one – not even she – had ever been.

If I get in the water in this outfit, the cloth will turn completely transparent."
"I know, and I'm looking forward to it more than you can imagine.

Do you love me, Rain?"
"More than I knew it was possible to love. All the stars will fall from the heavens before I ever stop.

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What had come over her? He'd touched her, and it was like electric flame
like the lightning she could summon
shooting sparks through her veins. She'd all but melted, boneless, at his feet. He was the Winter King, her enemy, a man feared for his killing coldness, yet when he'd touched her, she had not frozen. She'd burned.

Ver reisa ku'chae. Kem surah, shei'tani. (Your soul calls out. Mine answers, beloved.)

That was the strength of Ellysetta's weave. Bright, unyielding,indefatigable love. Love that did not know surrender. Love that did not understand limitations or even basic self-preservation. Love that would batter itself to death before giving in to defeat.

Dark, shadowy figures moved closer, circling.
Torel pulled his two seyani longswords free of their scabbards. "Come, then!" He shouted. "Come dance with the tairen, if you dare! Miora felah ti' Feyreisa! Joy to the Feyreisa! And death to you all!"
And he became a whirling blur of motion - black leather, shining steel, red blood - spinning in the moonlight, delivering death to all he touched until he moved no more.

There's not a Fey warrior born who does not dream of finding his truemate, so at night, after my parents went to bed, I would sneak out of the shellaba and lie beneath the stars and ask the gods if they could somehow find a way to give a tairen a truemate.

Hope was a fragile flicker that he wanted to cup with both hands to protect against the harsh winds of reality.

And as for you, Gaelen is your uncle, your mother's beloved brother. He's your family. Learn to get along with him. You don't have to like him, but you might want to consider the fact that he's walked the earth more than twice as long as either of your parents, and he's spent the last thousand years battling the enemies of the Fey. He's probably forgotten more Fey skills than you've ever learned.

He sat beside her. "What sort of things did you dream of?"
"Oh, what most young girls do, I imagine. Fey tales. True love." She gave a small, self-conscious laugh. "You.

Do you know how a pearl comes to be?"
"Oysters make them, from a bit of sand."
"Aiyah. From a bit of sand." He rolled the pearl between his fingers. "All pearls begin as something unpleasant that the oysters cannot expel from themselves, even though they may want to. So they embrace these things that will not leave them, shaping them and smoothing away the sharp edges, until over time, they make of these unwanted things great treasures.

Lord Hawksheart said we should stay together," she reminded him. ' Do not leave your mate's side,' he said. 'You hold each other to the Light,' he said. And he said we could only defeat the Darkness together."
"He said many things. Most of which I don't trust."
The safest place for me is at your side. Whatever happens, we face it together."
His eyes closed and he nodded. "Doreh Shabeila de." So shall it be.

You think because you face situations not of your making that you exercise no choice? That you are helpless? To the contrary, child. Your whole life has been full of choices. Hiding from a hard truth is a choice. Surrender - even to the inevitable - is a choice. Even in death there is a choice. You may have no control over the time or manner of your death, but you can choose how you face it.

A sincere, satisfying grovel is a talent most men never really master. You could do a lot worse than wedding a man who knows how to apologize well.

Not all battles can be won. Not all lives can be saved. And no matter how we wish it, not all songs end in joy.

Well, princess," Wynter murmured, "let's see what you're made of.

He looked exactly like what he was: a rich and valorous Sealord of Calberna, strong, battle-tested. Confident in all things and easy on the eye. A man even a wealthy, beautiful, magically gifted princess would be pleased to call her own.

Your father thought he scored a victory over me when he tricked me into marrying you instead of one of your sisters, but he unwittingly gave me the one daughter I wanted most.

And though I will never forgive myself for what I did, every day when the doubts creep in, I remind myself that the gods made me for their own purpose. That no matter how seemingly dark and terrible that purpose was, they trusted me to fulfill it. And I remind myself every day, that somehow, I must have proven myself worthy in their eyes because they sent me you, my soul's mate and the beacon that drew me back from Shadow.

Did Garrick hunt dragon treasure in this cave, too?"
"Of course. He even found some of the dragon's gold."
Her head reared back. "No, he didn't."
"Oh, he did." Wynter's expression was one of complete sincerity. For an instant, he almost had her believing the dragon's gold was real, until he said, "I know because I put it there myself. Same as my father did when I was a boy."
A laugh broke from her lips. "Did Garrick know?"
"Of course not. Not until much later. That would have ruined the magic.

.... Steli forgot knocking....

A giant ice wolf, they called it," Kham muttered as she scrambled up the tree. "Ice wolf, my ass. Show me one wolf - just one! - that can climb a tree!

Bel jumped to his feet, rubbing his wrists where the shel'dor piercings had chafed. "All right, kem'jetos. First we save Rain and Ellysetta, then we kick some Elden ass.

Pain is life. Pain is life. Pain is life.

She had prayed for someone else, anyone else but Den. She'd been hoping for a nice, quiet man like Papa. Instead, the gods had sent her the man who'd scorched the world.

She'd never kissed a man. She'd wanted to a few times before, but she'd never allowed herself to do so. Now, the instant his mouth touched hers, she knew she'd never want to kiss any man but him for the rest of her life. He was her one and only. He was everything she would ever want, everything she could ever need.

Speaking of his little Summerwitch . . . he had not laid eyes on her nor had one whispered update about her activities since leaving her bed this morning. That did not bode well. If he'd learned one thing about his wife, he'd learned that Absence of Khamsin held a far greater potential for disaster than Khamsin Constantly Underfoot.

All great gifts come with a great price, Bel murmured.

Those screams had been growing steadily louder, as the torture masters of Eld worked their way down the line of new prisoners. A few chimes ago, however, the screams had fallen mysteriously silent.
"Do you think the torture masters have tired themselves out?" Gaelen pondered with black humor.
"More likely, we're next, and they've just gone to sharpen their blades," Tajik said.
Locked up in the room with them, Farel gave a grunting laugh of amusement. "Could be. They've been using them enough."
"You know," Gil announced, "as rescues go, I have to say this one pretty much scorches rultshart turds.