Esther M. Friesner Quotes

Most memorable quotes from Esther M. Friesner.

Esther M. Friesner Famous Quotes

Reading Esther M. Friesner quotes, download and share images of famous quotes by Esther M. Friesner. Righ click to see or save pictures of Esther M. Friesner quotes that you can use as your wallpaper for free.

I threw the carving of my goddess as high and far as I could, into the sky above the waves, and watched its arcing path through the air. As it fell, I saw a golden shape come diving toward the plummeting image, a huge eagle that seized the monster's tooth in his talons. The feathers on his breast skimmed the sea before he soared back into the sky and flew away.
"Did you see that, La--Glaucus?" Milo's voice sounded in my ear. He'd woken from his nap and come up behind me unexpectedly. I almost jumped overboard with surprise. "It's a good sign, isn't it? Or is it predicting that something's waiting to snatch us away? If that's so, I swear I won't let it touch you. But is it a good sign after all? Ah, what does it mean?"
"You worry too much, Milo," I said as if I had no such worries of my own. "If every hero stopped to think about all the what-ifs in his path, none of us would ever take one step beyond our own doorways."
"But you saw what it did," Milo protested. "The eagle is Lord Zeus's bird. We can't just ignore it. Ah, what does it mean?"
"What it means," I said, smiling, "is that you and I have just seen either the world's most unmistakable omen or the world's most nearsighted eagle." May the gods stand by us, I thought as I laughed and Milo stared at me in dismay. May they favor and guide us, but may they never hold us hostage through our fears.
"Don't look at me like that," I told him, wiping sea spray from my eyes. "I haven't said anything wrong.
Esther M. Friesner Quotes: I threw the carving of
So, boy, how does it feel to be pouring out a never-ending stream of--?"
"Stop that!" I scowled at my brothers as I shooed them away from Milo. "How can you make such jokes in front of him?"
"To be honest, the only thing in front of him right now is the sea and the supper he ate three days ago." Castor's grin got wider.
Polydeuces was contrite. "We mean well, Helen. We're only trying to make him laugh. A good laugh might take his mind off being so ill."
"It's a shame we're bound straight for Corinth," the old sailor said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Since nothing else seems to be working for this lad, could be that a short rest on dry land would steady his stomach."
"You think we'd ever be able to get him back on board afterward?" Castor asked.
The sailor shrugged. "What would he have to say about it? He's your slave, isn't he?"
"He's our sister's slave, or was," Castor replied. "She freed him as soon as she bought him."
"And still he came onto this ship with you, sick as seafaring makes him?"
"This is his first voyage," I said, stooping beside Milo to place one arm protectively around him. "He didn't know he'd get sick."
"Oh, he'd have come along even if he'd known that a sea monster was waiting to gobble him up," Castor said, with another of those annoying, conspiratorial winks to his twin. "Anything rather than be separated from you, little sister."
Polydeuces eagerly took up his brother's game. "That's true," he ha
Esther M. Friesner Quotes: So, boy, how does it
Mother?" I rested one hand on the doorpost, with its carved pattern of palm branches. "Mother, will you teach me how to hunt?"
She gave me a strange look. "Gladly. But why?"
"Because if I do choose to go back to the training ground and Father finds out and wants me to stop, I want to bring him a whole cauldron of stewed rabbit so he'll change his mind."
When Mother stopped laughing, she took me outside, off into the olive grove, and gave me my first archery lesson. I didn't hit anything, but as Mother told me (with a perfectly straight face), I did manage to scare the olives off a couple of trees.
Esther M. Friesner Quotes: Mother?
Helen's era was quite different from what most people think of when they hear the words ancient Greece. The Parthenon, the graceful statues, the works of Sophocles, Euripides, Socrates, Aristotle, and Plato, all came nearly a thousand years after Helen's time, during the classical era. In the Bronze Age, no one yet knew how to make brittle iron flexible enough to use for tools and weapons. Art, especially sculpture of the human form, was stiffer and more stylized. Few people could read or write. Instead of signing important papers, you would use a stone seal to leave an impression on clay tablets. The design on the seal would be as unique as a signature. There was a kind of writing in Bronze Age Greece, but it was mostly used to keep track of financial matters, such as royal tax records. Messages, poems, songs, and stories were not written down but were memorized and passed along by word of mouth.
Esther M. Friesner Quotes: Helen's era was quite different
Good energy, even if it's not focused. Bad technique, but that's understandable and it can be corrected. Too much enthusiasm. There's no shame in honorable combat, but there shouldn't be so much unnatural pleasure. The man with the greatest thirst for blood ends up drinking at Hades's table.
Esther M. Friesner Quotes: Good energy, even if it's
History is gossip that's been legitimized, and that's really the case when you get into some of the Roman historians. Wow! They'd be right at home on reality tv.
Esther M. Friesner Quotes: History is gossip that's been
Where's the training ground?"
He thought he knew my reason for asking. "Oh no you don't," he said. "This isn't Sparta. You heard what Lord Oeneus thinks of women who act like men. You'll offend him."
"What offends him is women who do better than men," I said. "Don't worry, I don't want to do sword practice with any of them." I indicated the still-swaggering hunters. "If one of them beats me, he'll claim I had twelve arms, six heads, and spat poison. I just want to watch how you're all preparing for the hunt."
"Well, well, so you want to watch men exercising?" Castor snickered. "My little sister's growing up!"
I gave him a hard look. "The boar isn't the only pig around here."
That made him laugh outright. "Ah, Helen, I'm only joking.
Esther M. Friesner Quotes: Where's the training ground?He" title="Esther M. Friesner Quotes: Where's the training ground?"
He" width="913px" height="515px" loading="lazy"/>
I felt as if Delphi herself were calling out to me: Come and know me if you can! It takes a special kind of person to learn my secrets. Are you strong or nimble enough to fight through my crowds? Are you smart enough to find your way through my streets? Are you wise enough to deal with any peril or adventure I might choose to throw across your path? I am Delphi, and I dare you to conquer me!
And I am Helen of Sparta, I thought. I'm your match, just wait and see.
Esther M. Friesner Quotes: I felt as if Delphi
White as ash, her face, but ashes hold the phantoms of fires.
Esther M. Friesner Quotes: White as ash, her face,
I kept getting up earlier and earlier, hoping to escape before Ione could catch me. That was how I learned that you can't get up earlier than a farmer's wife.
Esther M. Friesner Quotes: I kept getting up earlier
Why didn't they ask two of the guards to go with them?" Milo asked.
"A soldier's not a servant," I told him. "The most loyal Spartan warrior would be insulted if he was asked to be a weapons bearer, even for a prince. It looks like Castor and Polydeuces will have to take care of themselves."
Milo looked away from me. I was puzzled by this sudden shyness and tried to catch his eye, but he deliberately avoided my gaze. He reeked of guilty secrets.
"You're the one," I said. "You're the scrawn--the boy Castor asked to go with him." His silence was the same as shouting Yes! I knew it. "You just told me you wanted to join the quest for the fleece. You could have done it: Why didn't you?"
"I couldn't," he mumbled.
"Why not? Because it's safer to talk about dreams than to try making them real? What are you so afraid of?"
"Nothing!" He yelled so fiercely that a pair of oxen grazing in a nearby field snorted and moved farther away from us. It was the first time I ever saw fire in Milo's eyes. "I'm no coward. That's not why I wouldn't go with your brothers. I have to go with you."
"Who said so? You're free now, Milo. Don't you know what that means? You can come and go anywhere you like. You ought to appreciate it."
"I appreciate you, Lady Helen!" Once Milo raised his voice, he couldn't stop. He shouted so loudly that the two oxen trotted to the far side of the pasture as fast as they could move their massive bodies. "You're the one who gave me my
Esther M. Friesner Quotes: Why didn't they ask two
Bringing back the Golden Fleece," I repeated, mocking him. "As if it exists."
Castor frowned. "What's biting you? Of course it exists! We told you what Jason said. It belonged to a marvelous ram sent by the gods to rescue two royal children, Phrixus and Helle, from their murderous stepmother. A pity it wasn't a perfect rescue. Phrixus reached Colchis safely, but his sister, Helle, fell off in mid-flight and drowned. Jason says that's why the place where she plunged into the sea's called the Hellespont. If that doesn't prove the story's true, what will satisfy you?"
"Anyone can give a place a name," I said, rolling my eyes. "When I get home, I'll name that olive grove near our training ground Wolf Forest and see what happens. A ram with a fleece of real gold, a flying ram that could carry the children through the skies to Colchis, where there are dragons, oh yes, that's believable! That's worth risking your lives for on a voyage across the world! I'll bet you don't care if that story's true or not. You just want an excuse to go off chasing fame!"
Polydeuces set a honey cake on my already heaping plate. "There must be something waiting for us in Colchis, little sister," he said gently. "Maybe not the gold fleece of a flying ram, but something. Why would Jason go to the trouble and expense of outfitting a ship for such a long, dangerous voyage otherwise?" He smiled wistfully and added, "You mustn't worry about us. We'll come back; we'll be fine."
He was right
Esther M. Friesner Quotes: Bringing back the Golden Fleece,
What color was the scorpion? I remembered the question Henenu had asked me years ago. The answer was vital: brown scorpions didn't have the power to kill humans, but white ones did.
'Brown.' He summoned up a wobbly smile. 'Not very big, either. I shouldn't be carrying on like this. You'll think I'm a child.'
'Not many children know the kind of words you were using,' I replied dryly.
Esther M. Friesner Quotes: What color was the scorpion?
I have to finish what I started. I'd have had that beast on my spear by now, except for Prince Meleager. He saw me wound it and thought I was in danger. The gods protect me from men who mean well!
Esther M. Friesner Quotes: I have to finish what
I don't hold memories in my hand, but I'll never let them go.
Esther M. Friesner Quotes: I don't hold memories in
I didn't know you could waste a whole day over dressmaking.
The next morning I learned that you can waste another day over the same stupid dresses.
Esther M. Friesner Quotes: I didn't know you could
A young man's passion, a jaded siren's last chance for love, a world gone mad, cheap thrills, fast cars, expensive wines, the triumph of victory, the overthrow of ontologically incipient hegemony, and gum! I have no idea if this book has any of them! But I liked the part about the bunny.
Esther M. Friesner Quotes: A young man's passion, a
What are you so afraid of?"
"Nothing!" He yelled so fiercely that a pair of oxen grazing in a nearby field snorted and moved farther away from us. It was the first time I ever saw fire in Milo's eyes. "I'm no coward. That's not why I wouldn't go with your brothers. I have to go with you."
"Who said so? You're free now, Milo. Don't you know what that means? You can come and go anywhere you like. You ought to appreciate it."
"I appreciate you, Lady Helen!" Once Milo raised his voice, he couldn't stop. He shouted so loudly that the two oxen trotted to the far side of the pasture as fast as they could move their massive bodies. "You're the one who gave me my freedom. If I love to be fifty, I'll never be able to repay you!
Esther M. Friesner Quotes: What are you so afraid
To stop crying, my Raisa... laugh.
Esther M. Friesner Quotes: To stop crying, my Raisa...
People give up the earth for beauty.
Esther M. Friesner Quotes: People give up the earth
The first time I saw your father, I'd just come home from the hunt. The forests of Calydon are thick with game, but the deer are so clever that it was the first time I'd managed to bring one down. I was so proud of what I'd done that I insisted on carrying the buck into the throne room myself and dropped it at my father's feet before I noticed we had a guest." She smiled at the memory.
"I'll bet Father thought you were Artemis herself," I said.
That made my mother laugh. "Not Artemis. You know how he feels about her. But he did say he mistook me for one of her huntress nymphs. That was just before he told me he had to marry me or die."
I made a face. "Father said that?"
"Men say many things when they want to win a woman. Whether or not they mean what they say…" She shrugged. "Your father meant it. Poor soul, it seemed like he would die, because none of my father's advisers thought I should marry him. Tyndareus came to Calydon as a landless exile; his brother had stolen his kingdom."
The story of Father's early trouble and final triumph was so well known that the palace stones could tell it. "Did you come to Sparta to marry him after he won back his crown?" I asked. "Or did he have to go back to Calydon for you?"
"Are you asking because you want to know, or because you want to distract me from what we need to talk about?
Esther M. Friesner Quotes: The first time I saw
My deepest regrets, Lady Helen, but your slave cannot be lodged here with you."
"Milo is free," I said sternly, standing very tall. "He serves us very well, and my brothers and I need him with us. It's not going to insult Apollo's ability to protect me if he stays. He's no guard."
"So I see." The priest gave Milo a patronizing look. "Gracious Lady Helen, how kind of you to tell me what will or won't insult the god I've served since childhood.
Esther M. Friesner Quotes: My deepest regrets, Lady Helen,
This trip would be a lot easier if we had weapons bearers coming with us," he grumbled, toeing his waiting pile of belongings. He looked rumpled, red-eyed, and hurting, not much of a surprise after all he'd had to drink the previous night. "You'd think every lad in Delphi would jump at the chance to join us on a fabulous quest like this."
"We'll have weapons bearers when we reach our quest's start at Iolkos," Polydeuces told him. "Maybe before. We'll pass through many cities before we reach Iolkos. Jason hasn't completed his crew yet."
"I still don't see why we can't find any now," Castor persisted. "It's a fine opportunity for any boy would hopes to be a warrior someday. They can't all have kinsmen to teach them about the warrior's life and how to fight. We'd see to it that they learn how to use the sword and spear and shield they carry for us."
"You don't have shields," I pointed out.
"We'll get them in Iolkos!" Castor snapped, then winced and cradled his head tenderly in one hand. "Just as well I don't have a shield yet: If that scrawny boy'd had the sense to become my weapons bearer, the weight of it would've crushed him."
"What scrawny boy?" I asked.
"Someone with no stomach for adventure, that's all," Polydeuces said, resting one hand on my shoulder. "Not like us, eh, Helen?
Esther M. Friesner Quotes: This trip would be a
Captures the reader with true magic.
Esther M. Friesner Quotes: Captures the reader with true
Little girl, who gave you permission to--Oh!" She bit off her words the moment that she noticed how well I was dressed, to say nothing of the two guards attending me. Her expression transformed from sour to sweet with stunning speed.
"Ah, noble lady, I see that you have a keen eye for quality," she cried. "You won't find better cloth anywhere in Delphi--warm in winter, light in summer, tightly woven, and proof against wind and rain. And just look at those colors!"
I did. They were all drab grays and browns. I held the first cloth up to the sunlight. If that was what she called a tight weave, so was a fishing net.
"I want a cloak," I told her, tossing the cloth aside. "Something long and heavy. It's for him." I nodded at Milo.
"Of course, just as you wish, I have exactly what you want, wait right here," she chattered. "I'll bring out the best I have, something worthy of the noble lord." She raised her hands to Milo in a gesture of reverence before ducking back into her house.
"'The noble lord'?" the tall guard repeated, incredulous. He and his companion snickered. Milo looked miserable.
"Ignore them," I told him, speaking low. "I promise you, before today is over, you'll be the one laughing at them.
Esther M. Friesner Quotes: Little girl, who gave you
Even if I was pretty, it wasn't going to be enough to bring me the life I wanted: one where I was free to make choices that mattered, one where people listened to what I had to say. Aphrodite had the beauty; Zeus had the thunderbolts. Everyone loved Aphrodite, but everyone listened to Zeus. I'd never get my hands on a thunderbolt, so if I wanted to be free, I'd better find a way to get my hands on the next best thing: a sword.
Esther M. Friesner Quotes: Even if I was pretty,
What brothers say to tease their sisters has nothing to do with what they really think of them.
Esther M. Friesner Quotes: What brothers say to tease
Being brave doesn't mean always having to fight alone.
Esther M. Friesner Quotes: Being brave doesn't mean always
This is a noble's dagger," Milo said. "It's not for me." He turned his face to me. "But I'll carry it if it will please you, Lady Helen."
Milo's declaration made Eunike cover her mouth and do a bad job of smothering a snicker. I didn't mind so much. I was glad to see her cheerful again.
"Instead of wasting time making fun of me, why don't we get started?" I said. "It'll be dawn before you know it."
"Not before I know it," said Eunike. We all laughed at that.
Esther M. Friesner Quotes: This is a noble's dagger,
He's our sister's slave, or was," Castor replied. "She freed him as soon as she bought him."
"And still he came onto this ship with you, sick as seafaring makes him?"
"This is his first voyage," I said, stooping beside Milo to place one arm protectively around him. "He didn't know he'd get sick."
"Oh, he'd have come along even if he'd known that a sea monster was waiting to gobble him up," Castor said, with another of those annoying, conspiratorial winks to his twin. "Anything rather than be separated from you, little sister."
Polydeuces eagerly took up his brother's game. "That's true," he hastened to tell the old sailor. "If you could have seen the way he's been gazing at her, all the way from Calydon!"
"Can we blame him, Polydeuces?" Castor asked with mock sincerity. "Our little sister is the most beautiful woman in the world." They collapsed laughing into each other's arms.
Milo made a great effort and pushed himself away from the rail, away from me. He took two staggering steps, fists clenched. "She is.
Esther M. Friesner Quotes: He's our sister's slave, or
Aphrodite had the beauty; Zeus had the thunderbolts. Everyone loved Aphrodite, but everyone listened to Zeus.
Esther M. Friesner Quotes: Aphrodite had the beauty; Zeus
It's not enough to be born free; I have to live my freedom!
Esther M. Friesner Quotes: It's not enough to be
What's going on, Helen?" Polydeuces came up behind us, followed closely by Castor. They'd been working hard down among the oarsmen again, and it was no pleasure to stand too near them on that windless day.
"The usual, from the look of things," Castor said, glancing at Milo's sagging body at the rail. He gave the boy an encouraging pat on the back. "Try to drink something, even if you can't keep your food down, lad," he said. "Shall I bring you a little watered wine?"
Milo lifted his sallow, haggard face and tried to thank my brother for his kindness but had to turn away quickly and spew over the side again.
Polydeuces sighed. "How can he still do that? I haven't seen him eat a bite of food since we boarded. You'd think his gut would be empty by now."
"Maybe it's a sacred mystery and only the gods know the answer," Castor said, smiling. "Like the horn of the she-goat who suckled the infant Zeus, the horn he broke off and blessed as soon as he was king of the gods so that it poured out a never-ending stream of food and drink."
"I always thought it was a strange way to thank the poor beast, breaking off one of her horns, Polydeuces said. "But it's not my place to question the gods." He, too, patted Milo's shivering back and added, "So, boy, how does it feel to be pouring out a never-ending stream of--?"
"Stop that!" I scowled at my brothers as I shooed them away from Milo. "How can you make such jokes in front of him?"
"To be honest, the only t
Esther M. Friesner Quotes: What's going on, Helen?
You saw my brothers today," I said.
She nodded. "They talked about lots of things while they were waiting to hear me, including you and how you were growing up to be the most stubborn woman in the world. Lord Castor told the man waiting next to him that you were lucky to be so pretty or you'd never find a husband.
Esther M. Friesner Quotes: You saw my brothers today,
Who knows, my lady?" he said. "Maybe one day when you're a grown woman, your beauty will make Zeus himself fall in love with you and put your image up there as well, for us ordinary men to see and envy."
"I can think of better reasons to end up among the stars," I said, smiling at such harmless flattery.
Esther M. Friesner Quotes: Who knows, my lady?
I sent a messenger to the inn where they're staying," he told us. "They'll look after you while Castor and I are with the Pythia. Have a good time in Delphi." He acted as though he'd just solved every problem in the world.
I didn't see it that way.
As we crossed the temple grounds together, I asked Polydeuces, "Is there a good reason you're treating me like a silly sheep?" I indicated the two soldiers behind me. "Or are you embarrassing me like this just because you can?"
Castor spoke up before his twin could answer. "Stop making a fuss over nothing, Helen. These men will protect you, not steer you."
"That's right, Lady Helen," the taller of the two said. "We're your shadows, not your sheepdogs. Go anywhere you want."
I gave him a sweet, innocent smile. Then I barked at him.
Esther M. Friesner Quotes: I sent a messenger to
The Fates themselves grant us one or two places in our lives where the thread untwists and we can follow either one strand or the other. Better to know when and where those choices will come to us instead of being taken by surprise. "
"Why only one or two?" I asked, thinking of all the moments my life had already accumulated in which I'd chosen to follow a different path than the one most people would expect of me. "Why not say that every day lets me choose my own future?"
The priest chuckled. "What a gift you have for joking, Lady Helen! You know your future. You'll be Sparta's queen, living a life blessed by the gods. Your only surprises will be the name of your husband and whether your babies will be sons or daughters. You don't need to visit the Pythia. But your noble brothers will be heroes, making their own futures; heroes should know what awaits them."
"He's right, Helen," Castor said. "Polydeuces and I should know our fate."
Castor's fate? He didn't need an oracle to discover that; I could tell him exactly what it would be. The young priest's glib words were better than underground fumes for giving me a vision of what lay in store for both of my brothers: They were going to have their ears filled with flattery, then be persuaded to leave a rich gift at Apollo's shrine just to hear some poor girl babble riddles while she choked half to death on smoke. Then they'd made another offering just to have Apollo's priests translate the Pythia's wild words.
Esther M. Friesner Quotes: The Fates themselves grant us
If we don't see to it that our children turn out better than we did, what will become of the world?
Esther M. Friesner Quotes: If we don't see to
They memorize everything and learn... nothing.
Esther M. Friesner Quotes: They memorize everything and learn...
Esther K. Smith Quotes «
» Esther M. Soto Quotes