Anne Bishop Quotes

...you look the truth in the face - not the truth that has fangs and fur but the hard truth about yourself, that you're just as dangerous as the beings the rest of the people fear but you can't afford to be as honest about it. You can't tell those people that you'll make deals with what they fear in order to keep them sage from the monsters who look just like them. ~ Anne Bishop

He watched her, listened to her, and knew she was truly asleep. He kissed her forehead and found the act pleasing for its own sake. And, he admitted as he licked his lips, it was enjoyable for other reasons. Meg wasn't bitable, but he really did like the taste of her. ~ Anne Bishop

For now, he and Meg were going to have the adventure of seeing a new place and having a new experience. Together.
He wasn't human. Would never be human. And Meg didn't expect him to be. But feeling her hand in his, Simon thought maybe he could learn to be human enough. ~ Anne Bishop

He just hoped Meg leading the way didn't mean all the blood prophets would do strange things to their hair. ~ Anne Bishop

Sometimes I think her chest is made of ice, and she has to stay emotionally cold to hide the smell of a roting heart. ~ Anne Bishop

You stirred things up here." he finally said. "Why?"
"I'm not the one who-"
"You've angered the Sanguinati, and that's not going to help us right now."
"You don't know what's been going on here,' Elliot snapped. "what that monkey-fuck female has done."
"She's not a monkey-fuck, and she is not prey," Simon said, his voice a low, threatening rumble. "She is Meg."
"You don't know what she's done!"
"She gets mail and deliveries to the complexes on a regular basis. She has a routine with the deliverymen, so we get the merchandise we bought. And she got Sam out of the damn cage!"
"She put a him on a leash, Simon. On a leash!"
"It's not a leash," a young, scratchy voice shouted. Of tried to shout. "It's a safety line. Adventure buddies use a safety line so they can help each other."
Elliot stared, frozen. Simon turned, barely breathing. ~ Anne Bishop

He hadn't observed Kowalski or Debany licking their mates' hands. ~ Anne Bishop

Forgiveness doesn't work that way. You may want to forgive, but you can't do it yet. Forgiving someone can take weeks, months, years. Sometimes it takes a lifetime. ~ Anne Bishop

Some men die for lack of love ... some die because of it. Think about it. - Daemon ~ Anne Bishop

She was young, healthy, stronger than she'd ever been. And she was in love with him. She'd fallen in love with a man who challenged the world to take him on, sometimes with laughing, boyish enthusiasm and other times as a warrior born and trained to kill. She could do this for him. Would do this for him. ~ Anne Bishop

He's my friend, my brother," he whispered into her shoulder. "He's dying."
"Daemon." Jaenelle gently stroked his hair. "Daemon, we have to help him. I could - "
"No!" Don't tempt me with hope. Don't tempt me to take that kind of risk. "You can't help him. Nothing can help him now."
Jaenelle tried to push back to look at him, but he wouldn't let her. "I know I promised him I wouldn't wander around Terreille, but - " Daemon licked a tear.
"You met him? He saw you once?"
"Once." She paused. "Daemon, I might be able to - "
"No," Daemon moaned into her neck. "He wouldn't want you there, and if something happened to you, he'd never forgive me. Never. ~ Anne Bishop

I've done some research for my books and talked to a few humans, and they all said humans would use guns and knives and clubs for weapons." The Crow nodded. "A screaming woman with a teakettle just doesn't sound sufficiently dangerous." "But she was! They were!" Alan said. "How would a human deal with them? ~ Anne Bishop

When you're fully healed," she said sternly, then spoiled it with a silvery, velvet-coated laugh. "Oh, Lucivar, the dragons who live on the Fyreborn Islands are going to love you. You not only have wings, you're big enough to wave whomp. ~ Anne Bishop

Words lie. Blood doesn't. ~ Anne Bishop

Simon's relationship with Meg was too complex for anything as simple as sex. ~ Anne Bishop

The heart's need to make its journey through life calls to us. Some hearts will back away from the journey, too fearful to leave the familiar even though it withers. Others wills leap forward and never look back, bruising the hearts left behind. Pain will force some to begin the journey. For others, love will be a beacon that keeps them moving forward. ~ Anne Bishop

Not fault of teaching spider if little spider pay more attention to catching fly than doing lesson. ~ Anne Bishop

Misery is a heart that can never be content with what it has and, by always craving something more, brings about its own destruction. And desolation is a heart so fearful of losing what it hoards that it never knows the richness that comes from being able to give. ~ Anne Bishop

That is a list of the Territories that yielded to Ebon Askavi. They now stand within the shadow of the Keep. They are mine. Anyone who tries to settle in my Territory without my consent will be dealt with. Anyone who harms any of my people will be executed. There will be no excuses and no exceptions. I will say it simply so that the members of this Council and the intruders who thought to take land they had no right to claim can never say they misunderstood." Jaenelle's lips curled into a snarl. "STAY OUT OF MY TERRITORY! ~ Anne Bishop

If you try to quit I will eat you! ~ Anne Bishop

He wondered if there was a way human males said they were sorry about something without saying they were sorry. Because he wasn't sorry about being angry. ~ Anne Bishop

I need to talk to one of the Zuulaman Blood," Andulvar said.
"They are gone," Draca replied.
"From Terreille, yes. But there must be some who are demon-dead. You could arrange this."
"They are gone," she repeated. "The Dark Realm wass purged of Zuulaman Blood."
Andulvar grabbed one of the chairs that surrounded the table to keep himself upright. "You purged Hell ?"
"No."
"Then... ?"
"The Prince of the Darknesss. The High Lord of Hell." Draca stared at him. "Grief wass the hammer they ussed to break hiss control. Rage wass the forge in which he sshaped hiss power into a weapon."
"So there's no one left."
"There's no one left," Geoffrey agreed. He looked at Draca. "If Saetan did what we think he did, there isn't a shard of pottery, a scrap of cloth, or a line from a poem, story, or song left that came from the Zuulaman people. There isn't any trace of them in any of the Realms."
Including the islands they came from, Andulvar thought, feeling sick.
"It's as if they never existed," Geoffrey said. ~ Anne Bishop

Dear Jean, I have seen a deer. I have petted a pony. I helped plant a garden. I have smelled earth and felt it in my hands. You watched the sun rise. These things are worth the struggle to live outside. ~ Anne Bishop

Jaenelle blushed. "No, none of them are my mate. I'm not old enough for a mate," she added hurriedly as Smoke gave them all a look of blatant disapproval. "This is Saetan, the High Lord. He's my sire. My brother, Prince Mephis, is the High Lord's pup. And this is my uncle, Prince Andulvar, and my cousin, Lord Prothvar. And that's Lord Beale. Everyone, this is Prince Smoke. ~ Anne Bishop

Human females, they're kind of crazy during this time aren't they?
If you chose to believe the stories written by male writers.
They heard a bang and thump from the kitchen. Followed by Meg yelling at something.
That many males can't be wrong. ~ Anne Bishop

He couldn't regret Daemon's and Lucivar's existence, but he'd tortured himself for centuries with reports of what had been done to them. - Saetan ~ Anne Bishop

And getting licked by someone furry wasn't threatening but being kissed by the non furred male was, which made sense when the furry and non furred were the same person. Wolf. ~ Anne Bishop

Jaenelle squirmed. My ... mate ... is trapped in the Twisted Kingdom. If I don't show him the way out, he'll be destroyed. ~ Anne Bishop

Do you know what the Sharkgard call humans on a ship?> ~ Anne Bishop

No, Daemon," Jaenelle said gently, looking up at him with her ancient, wistful, haunted eyes. "Everyone knows I'm different. It just doesn't matter to some - and it matters a lot to others." A tear slipped down her cheek. "Why am I different?" Daemon looked away. Oh, child. How could he explain that she was dreams made flesh? That for some of them, she made the blood in their veins sing? That she was a kind of magic the Blood hadn't seen in so very, very long? "What does the Priest say?" Jaenelle sniffed. "He says growing up is hard work." Daemon smiled sympathetically. "It is that. ~ Anne Bishop

You put a sleep spell on me, didn't you?" she grumbled.
"You'll thank me for it later," Lucivar replied, kissing her temple. I love you. "That's good to hear, witchling, because I love you, too." She was dreaming. Of course she was dreaming. But she smiled and let the dream take her. ~ Anne Bishop

Everything has a price. It's just what your willing to pay for it. ~ Anne Bishop

The cow-shaped cookies have a beef flavoring, the turkey-shaped cookies have a poultry flavoring, and ... "
Jane held up one of the cookies. "Human-flavored?"
Meg stifled a sigh. That would be the first thing on her feedback list: don't make people-shaped cookies. The Wolves were way too interested and all of them leaped to a logical, if disturbing, expectation about the taste. ~ Anne Bishop

He moved forward cautiously. He circled it, sniffed it, whapped it with a paw. Then he found the product tag and stared at it for a minute. Turning toward her, he lifted a lip in something that might have been a sneer.
"I know it says it's a dog bed, but I'm sure a Wolf can use it," Meg said.
Nothing but grumbly sounds from the Wolf.
"Fine. If you want to lie on a cold, hard floor instead of something comfy and warm just because Wolf is spelled d-o-g, you go right ahead. ~ Anne Bishop

Sometimes he caught a glimpse of a girl with long golden hair running away from him. He always followed, desperate to catch up with her, desperate to explain ... He couldn't remember what he needed to explain. Don't be afraid, he called to her. Please, don't be afraid. But she continued to run, and he continued to follow her through a landscape filled with twisting roads that ended nowhere and caverns that were strewn with bones and splashed with blood. Down, always down. ~ Anne Bishop

Lady Anne Bishop, he was coming to realize to his growing delight, was far more complex than he'd anticipated. Each moment the plans he'd worked out to win her needed to be modified and adapted as he learned something new about her. ~ Suzanne Enoch

Earth natives didn't absorb everything from the forms they had chosen over the long years the sun had risen and set over Namid. They were first and always terra indigene. But they learned from the predators they became, and certain traits were passed down to the young of each form. Yes, ~ Anne Bishop

I was thinking of something that made me unhappy."
Simon stopped snarling and cocked his head, looking more baffled than angry. "Why would you do that? ~ Anne Bishop

Ms. Borden is Lizzy's mother? ~ Anne Bishop

But during the day ... that was life. The collection of small details that made up a shared day were what gave richness to what happened in the bed at night. ~ Anne Bishop

Jaenelle peered into the space between the chair arms. "Saetan?" she said in a small, quivery voice. "Saetan, are you all right?"
Using Craft, Saetan sent the top chair back to the blackwood desk. "I'm fine, witch-child." He stuffed his feet into his shoes and gingerly stood up. "That's the most excitement I've had in centuries."
"Really?" He straightened his black tunic-jacket and smoothed back his hair.
"Yes, really." And Guardian or not, a man his age shouldn't have his heart gallop around his rib cage like this. Saetan looked around the study and stifled a groan. ~ Anne Bishop

No. I'm not hot, and I don't want to do the Squeaky Dance." Simon sighed. This day was full of disappointments. ~ Anne Bishop

You hold a coin, make a wish, toss the coin in the well as a tribute to the Guides. And then if you're meant to have it, your wish will come true." Nadia sighed. "Yes, I suppose that's how most people think it works. This is how it does work. You make a wish and toss a coin in the well as a declaration of your intention to have something in your life. Then what do you do?" Lynnea shook her head to indicate that she didn't know. Nadia's voice took on the tartness of impatience. "You roll up your sleeves and you work to make it happen." "But ~ Anne Bishop

And he wondered just how much teasing she had received - and why human males would train a female to shoot a gun and then tease her into being angry enough to shoot them. "I'm ~ Anne Bishop

She would have told her to respect her limitations as well as her abilities. ~ Anne Bishop

He had a feeling this was one of those times when a male should express positive enthusiasm regardless of what he really thought - especially when he didn't really know what was going on. ~ Anne Bishop

We know how it ends practically before it starts. That's why stories appeal to us. They give us the clarity and simplicity our real lives lack. ~ Anne Bishop

Opportunities and choices. When a person makes a heart wish, that wish resonates through the currents and things will happen to give the person an opportunity to make the wish come true. Like a hand offered and accepted. ~ Anne Bishop

Sometimes doing the right thing isn't the right thing to do." "Here, ~ Anne Bishop

Do you want to know what 'special' really means, my darling? It means more training, more work, more study, more discipline, more rules. ~ Anne Bishop

Jaenelle woke up in a similar mood," Lucivar said mildly. "Must have been an interesting night." "Nothing happened," Daemon growled as he swiped his hair back. "Nothing physical," Lucivar said. "But I've danced with the Sadist enough times to recognize him when I see him." Daemon just waited. Lucivar's lips curled into that lazy, arrogant smile. "Welcome to Kaeleer, brother," he said softly. "It's good to have you back." He paused at the bathroom door. "I'll bring you a cup of coffee. That and a hot shower ought to wake you up enough. ~ Anne Bishop

It's a store full of books, which are objects that can be thrown as well as read," Monty replied blandly. The Crow cocked his head. "I had no idea you humans lived with so much danger." Monty ~ Anne Bishop

The lesson was not lost on Kartane. To be Ringed was the severest form of control. If Daemon couldn't stand the pain, how could he? It became very important not to give Dorothea a reason to Ring him. That night, after Daemon had been allowed to rest a little, he was ordered to serve the witch he'd earlier refused. That night was the first time Daemon went cold. ~ Anne Bishop

Henry studied Merri Lee, then Meg. "Humans don't like mice?" "Not in the building!" Meg said. "And not around food," Merri Lee added. The three terra indigene looked baffled. "But it's fresh meat," the brown-haired woman finally said. ~ Anne Bishop

Do any of them realize that Simon Wolfgard is falling in love with Meg Corbyn? Monty wondered. Does Wolfgard understand his own response to the girl? What about Meg? How does she feel? What would the rest of the Others do if one of their kind did fall in love with a human? ~ Anne Bishop

Despair made the deserts and hope shaped the oasis. ~ Anne Bishop

Who do you have to find?"

"The boy. My son. Daemon." Lucivar's heart clogged his throat as he watched Jaenelle pale. "Daemon." Jaenelle shuddered. "The gold key."

"I have to find him." Tersa's voice rang with frustration and fear. "If the pain doesn't end soon, it will destroy him."

Jaenelle gave no sign of having heard or understood the words. "Daemon," she whispered. "How could I have forgotten Daemon?"

"I must go back to Terreille. I must find him."

"No," Jaenelle said in her midnight voice. "I'll find him."

Tersa stopped her restless movements. "Yes," she said slowly, as if trying hard to remember something. "He would trust you. He would follow you out of the Twisted Kingdom. ~ Anne Bishop

When honor and the Law no longer stand on the same side of the line, how do we choose[?] ~ Anne Bishop

More than a shadow and less than a soul. ~ Anne Bishop

Once, he'd been the Seducer, the Executioner, the High Priest of the Hourglass, the Prince of the Darkness, the High Lord of Hell.

Once, he'd been Consort to Cassandra, the great Black-Jeweled, Black Widow Queen, the last Witch to walk the Realms.

Once, he'd been the only Black-Jeweled Warlord Prince in the history of the Blood, feared for his temper and the power he wielded.

Once, he'd been the only male who was a Black Widow.

Once, he'd ruled the Dhemlan Territory in the Realm of Terreille and her sister Territory in Kaeleer, the Shadow Realm. He'd been the only male ever to rule without answering to a Queen and, except for Witch, the only member of the Blood to rule Territories in two Realms.

Once, he'd been married to Hekatah, an aristo Black Widow Priestess from one of Hayll's Hundred Families.

Once, he'd raised two sons, Mephis and Peyton. He'd played games with them, told them stories, read to them, healed their skinned knees and broken hearts, taught them Craft and Blood Law, showered them with his love of the land as well as music, art, and literature, encouraged them to look with eager eyes upon all that the Realms had to offer - not to conquer but to learn. He'd taught them to dance for a social occasion and to dance for the glory of Witch. He'd taught them how to be Blood.

But that was a long, long time ago. ~ Anne Bishop

Okay. I picked up a movie to watch tonight. You can watch it with me if you like. It's a chick movie. Merri Lee said that means girls like it, not that there are small birds in it. ~ Anne Bishop

Too much power. Too much. Even the Blood weren't meant to wield this much power. Even Witch had never controlled this much power. This one did. This young Queen. This daughter of his soul. With effort, Saetan steadied his breathing. He could accept her. He could love her. Or he could fear her. The decision was his, and whatever he decided here, now, he would have to live with. ~ Anne Bishop

Was she cold? If he'd stayed with her last night, she wouldn't be cold. ~ Anne Bishop

Daemon had written: "What do you do when she asks a question no man would give a child an answer to?"
Saetan had replied: "Hope you're obliging enough to answer it for me. However, if you're backed into a corner, refer her to me. I've become accustomed to being shocked. ~ Anne Bishop

We are what we are. Nothing more, nothing less. There is good and evil among every kind of people. It's the evil among us who rule now. ~ Anne Bishop

Briarwood is the pretty poison. There is no cure for Briarwood. ~ Anne Bishop

But naked wasn't something done around human pups - although he wanted to ask the men why naked from the waist up was all right for them but females remained covered. That didn't seem fair. Shifting ~ Anne Bishop

Nathan said nothing for a moment. Then, "There's nothing in my fur, is there?"
Simon gave the other Wolf a careful look. "No boogers."
"Good. I hate washing boogers out of fur."
"Who doesn't? What comes out of human noses is disgusting ... ~ Anne Bishop

What you give comes back to you. It's not tit for tat
life isn't that simple
but what you give always comes back to you. ~ Anne Bishop

Are there weapons in a bookstore?'
'It's a store full of books, which are objects that can be thrown as well as read,' Monty replied blandly.
The Crows cocked his head. 'I had no idea you humans lived with so much danger. ~ Anne Bishop

Even a strong child, a powerful child, would be dependent on the adults around her. If her strength could unnerve him, how would her people, her family, react if they ever discovered what was contained inside that small husk? Would they accept the child who already was the strongest Queen in the history of the Blood, or would they fear the power? And if they feared the power, would they try to cut her off from it by breaking her? A Virgin Night performed with malevolent skill could strip her of her power while leaving the rest intact. But, since her inner web was so deep in the abyss, she might be able to withdraw far enough to withstand the physical violation - unless the male was able to descend deep enough into the abyss to threaten her even there. Was there a male strong enough, dark enough, vicious enough? There was ... one. - Saetan ~ Anne Bishop

Why would I care what you looked like? The flesh was the shell that housed the glory. ~ Anne Bishop

Sometimes I ask lots of people the same question." His head hurt. "What do you do if you don't get the same answer?" "Think about it. ~ Anne Bishop

It's a romantic novel," Jaenelle said in a small voice as he called in his half-moon glasses and started idly flipping the pages. "A couple of women in a bookseller's shop kept talking about it." Romance. Passion. Sex. He suppressed - barely - the urge to leap to his feet and twirl her around the room. A sign of emotional healing? Please, sweet Darkness, please let it be a sign of healing. ~ Anne Bishop

Our recovery of hope - full colour, three-dimensional, hard working, clear thinking, wildly radical, living hope - is our key to liberation. ~ Anne Bishop

Jaenelle tried to smile. "They won't find their way through the maze. Not this maze, anyway." Then she looked sadly at Daemon's gaunt, bruised body and gently brushed the long, dirty, tangled black hair off his forehead. "Ah, Daemon. I had gotten used to thinking of my body as a weapon that was used against me. I'd forgotten that it's also a gift. If it's not too late, I'll do better. I promise." Jaenelle placed her transparent hands on either side of Daemon's head. She closed her eyes. The Black Jewel glowed. Listening to the Hayllian guards thrashing around somewhere in the maze, Surreal sank to the ground and settled down to wait. *Daemon.* The island slowly sank into the sea of blood. He curled up in the center of the pulpy ground while the word sharks circled, waiting for him. *Daemon. ~ Anne Bishop

W-what are you?"
Selena looked down at her rival. "What you should have been and never were. The Queen of the Witches. ~ Anne Bishop

She would always be short, but she wasn't helpless and she wasn't small. Not anymore. ~ Anne Bishop

[ ... ][I]f you adapted too much in order to deal with them, you ran the risk of forgetting who you were and you could end up being neither and nothing. ~ Anne Bishop

I refused to be less than what I am, and I made them deal with me on my own terms. ~ Anne Bishop

It was hard to be around Jean because he looked at her and saw what Meg's future would have been if she hadn't been brave enough to run away - and if Jean hadn't been brave enough to stay. ~ Anne Bishop

He put his arms around her and brushed his lips against hers once, twice. Then his mouth settled over hers and lingered. As he eased back, she leaned forward and pressed her lips against his.
"I think we like it," Meg breathed.
"I think we should try it again. Just to be sure."
They tried it several more times, just to be sure, and eventually decided that they did like kissing. They liked it a lot ~ Anne Bishop

He gave her one. "It is totally unfair," he said in his most severe voice, "to engage in a snowball fight when only one combatant can make snowballs." He waited, loving the way her eyes sparkled. "Well?" Even without reading the thoughts beneath it, he could tell her touch was filled with laughter. Daemon bent down, gathered some snow, and learned how to make a snowball from snow too fluffy to pack. This, too, was similar to a basic lesson in Craft - creating a ball of witchlight - yet it required a subtler, more intrinsic knowledge of Craft than he'd ever known anyone to have. "Did the Priest teach you how to do this?" he asked as he straightened up, delighted with the perfect snowball in his hand. Jaenelle stared at him, aghast. Then she laughed. "Noooo." She quickly cocked her arm and hit him in the chest with her snowball. The next few minutes were all-out war, each of them pelting the other as fast as they could make snowballs. When it was over, Daemon was peppered with clumps of white. He leaned over, resting his hands on his knees. "I leave the field to you, Lady," he panted. "As well you should," she replied tartly. Daemon looked up, one eyebrow rising. ~ Anne Bishop

Whether it was true or not, it eased his heart to think there was something beyond the physical plane, something that felt benevolent toward humans, because the gods knew there wasn't much on the physical plane that felt benevolent toward them. ~ Anne Bishop

You're in the Courtyard.
Whatever rules humans have for employers aren't my rules unless I say they're my rules.
So I can hire you even though you don't have any idea what you're doing, and I can fire you for having stinky hair! ~ Anne Bishop

Vlad stared at Simon. "Meg told the Elders they were..."
"Bad puppies," Simon finished. "Yeah."
A minute passed before Vlad said, "Why?"
"They didn't say 'please' when they asked for cookies."
"I don't know what to say."
Simon scratched behind an ear that was now Wolf-shaped and furry. "That's okay. Meg said plenty for all of us. ~ Anne Bishop

Vlad looked around. Are we providing shelter, or are the humans actually buying books? ~ Anne Bishop

He hurt because she was hurting. He wanted to lick her face and find a meaty bone for her to gnaw on. He wanted to entice her into a game so she would think about something else. But ~ Anne Bishop

Lucivar winced. "She guzzled half the flask - and it wasn't one of his home brews, it was the concoction you created."

Jaenelle's eyes widened. "You let her drink a 'gravedigger'?"

"No no no," Wilhelmina said, shaking her head. "You shouldn't ever drink a gravedigger until he's had a bath." She smiled placidly when Jaenelle and Lucivar just stared at her.

"Mother Night," Lucivar muttered.

"Do you know that song?" Wilhelmina asked Jaenelle. ~ Anne Bishop

Some, like Lorne, who ran the Three Ps - the shop for paper, printing, and postage - went on as they had before. ~ Anne Bishop

But what would they have said to their Liaison? It's like this, Meg. We didn't like that Asia Crane, so we ate her.
When dealing with humans, honesty isn't always the best policy, Vlad thought ~ Anne Bishop

In the gray world above, I hear myself howling with laughter. Far below me, in the psychic abyss that is part of the Darkness, I hear another howling, one full of joy and pain, rage and celebration.
Not just another witch is coming, my foolish Sisters, but Witch. ~ Anne Bishop

Perhaps not willingly, but pain can make a man do things he wouldn't willingly do. ~ Anne Bishop

Coldness as a defense for the heart was something Saetan understood all too well. ~ Anne Bishop

The map showed human places I'd never heard of - places that had once been great civilizations, until humans forgot the world wasn't theirs to claim. ~ Anne Bishop

He gently kissed that scar and felt something changing inside him - just a flutter of change, there and gone, but leaving its mark. ~ Anne Bishop

I walked down to the village with five Sceltie puppies. I came back to the Hall with four."
"And the fifth ?"
"By now, I'm sure Sylvia has convinced the little bitch to let go of Mikal's trousers. And Mrs Beale promised to send her recipe for puppy biscuits to Sylvia's cook."
"Mrs Beale agreed to share a recipe," Saetan said slowly.
"Mrs Beale agreed that I could pay for ... I'm not sure what it is except that it's something she wanted for the kitchen but couldn't justify as a normal household expense."
"And you agreed to fund this in exchange for a recipe ?"
Daemon stared at his father for a long moment before he muttered, "She sharpened the meat cleaver before coming to talk to me."
One beat of silence. Two. Then Saetan burst out laughing. ~ Anne Bishop

Thera started sputtering. "You fool. You idiot." She stopped because Blaethe's response was much pithier and far more creative. She nodded approvingly. "What he said. ~ Anne Bishop

Nothing wrong with the way your mother looks. First thing in the morning, last thing at night, and every hour in between, she looks just fine. ~ Anne Bishop

he was the friend who would become an enemy in order to remain a friend. 3 ~ Anne Bishop