Damen Quotes

Ever, if I've learned nothing else in my six hundred years of living, it's that people hate change almost as much as they hate for their beliefs to be challenged. ~ Alyson Noel

You are not keeping slaves in your household.' 'I can't imagine why,' said Damen. 'If you've forgotten what to do with a slave, I can tell you,' said Laurent. 'You hate the idea of slavery. It turns your stomach.' Damen said it, a flat statement of truth. 'If I'd been anyone else, you would have freed me on the first night.' He searched Laurent's face. 'When I argued the case for slavery in Arles you didn't try to change my mind.' 'It is not a subject for an exchange of ideas. There is nothing to say.' 'There will be slaves in Akielos. We are a slave culture.' 'I know that.' Damen ~ C.S. Pacat

Don't think, he'd said, because it was easier than saying, Take me for who I am.
He couldn't bear that suddenly. He wanted it without pretences, without excuses, his fingers curling hard into Laurent's hair.
'It's me,' said Damen. 'It's me, here with you. Say my name.'
'Damianos. ~ C.S. Pacat

So he's tame,' said Estienne, and reached out tentatively, as though to pat a wild animal.
It was a question of which part of the animal he was patting. Damen cknocked his hand away. Estienne gave a yelp and snatched his hand back, nursing it against his chest.
'No that tame,' said Laurent. ~ C.S. Pacat

I can't protect you as I am now, Laurent had said. Damen hadn't thought about what protection might entail, but he would never have imagined that Laurent would step into the ring on his behalf. And stay in it. "I ~ C.S. Pacat

Laurent said, 'What do you think of Jord?'
'I like him,' said Damen. 'You should be pleased with him. He was the right choice for Captain.'
There was an unhurried pause. Aside from the sounds Damen made when he picked up a vambrace, the tent was quiet.
'No,' said Laurent. 'You were. ~ C.S. Pacat

If he could do it, Damen could do it. He could make impersonal negotiations, speak in the formal language of kings. The ache of loss didn't make sense, because Laurent had never been his. He had known that. ~ C.S. Pacat

He wasn't sure how it would be, but
when Laurent saw who was beside him,
he smiled, the expression a
little shy but completely genuine.
Damen, who hadn't been expecting it,
felt the single painful beat of his heart.
He'd never thought Laurent could look
like that at anyone. ~ C.S. Pacat

He said, 'Is there a child?' 'I have told you that there is,' said Jokaste. 'I wasn't talking to you,' said Damen. The attending women seated around Jokaste were of varying ages, from the eldest of perhaps sixty to the youngest, Jokaste's age, around twenty-four. ~ C.S. Pacat

Having made the decision to let Damen in, Laurent had not gone back on it. When the walls went up, it was with Damen inside them. But ~ C.S. Pacat

You should be,' said Jokaste. 'He is the son of a king.' The son of a king. Damen felt dizzy, as if the floor was scrolling out from under his feet. She delivered the words calmly, as she had delivered every remark, except that these words changed everything. The idea that it might be - that it was - His child. Everything ~ C.S. Pacat

Damen Trent pushed his fat fingers between the blinds, peering across the street. Sure enough, all the windows of the Mekinet News building were in darkness. ~ Peter James West

Guilliame came to talk to him, since they were the same rank.
'Lamen. That's an unusual name.'
'It's Patran,' said Damen.
'You speak very good Akielon,' he said, loudly and slowly.
'Thank you,' said Damen. ~ C.S. Pacat

Though I have to admit, I had a good laugh when I realized you thought I was a bloodsucker." He smiles.
"Oh, well excuse me. I mean since there are immortals running around, I figure we may as well bring on the faeries, wizards, werewolves, and - " I shake my head. "I mean jeez, you talk about all this like it's normal! ~ Alyson Noel

As the heavy latticed iron beetled above
their heads, Damen found himself
wanting it, wanting disruption, a cry of
outrage, or of challenge, wanting it as a
release to this
feeling. Traitor. Stop.
But none came. ~ C.S. Pacat

Where's your car? Miles asks, glancing at him as he slams his door shut and slings his backpack over his shoulder. "And whats up with your hand?"

"I got rid of it," Damen says, gaze fixed on mine. Then glancing at Miles and seeing his expression he adds, "The car, not the hand."

"Did you trade it in?" I ask, but only because Miles is listening. [...]

He shakes his head and walks me to the gate, smiling as he says, "No, I just dropped off on the side of the road, key in the ignition, engine running."

"Excuse me?!" Miles yelps. "You mean to tell me that you left your shiny, black, BMW M6 Coupe - by the side of the road?"

Damen nods.

But thats a hundred-thousand-dollar car!" Miles gasps as his face turns bright red.

"A hundreds and ten." Damen laughs. "Don't forget, it was fully customized and loaded with options."

Miles stares at him, eyes practically bugging out of his head, unable to comprehend how anyone could do such a thing - why anyone would do such a thing. "Um, okay, so let me get this straight - you just woke up and decided - Hey, what the hell? I think I'll just dump my ridiculously expensive luxury car by the side of the road - WHERE JUST ANYONE CAN TAKE IT?"

Damen shrugs. "Pretty much."

"Because in case you haven't noticed," Miles says, practically hyperventilating now. "Some of us are a little car deprived. Some of us were born with parents so cruel and unu ~ Alyson Noel

He was not thinking about tactics. That man had laid hands on Laurent, and Damen was going to kill him. ~ C.S. Pacat

I'm glad you're here,' said Laurent. 'I always thought that I'd have to face my uncle alone.'
He turned to look at Damen, and their eyes met.
'You're not alone,' said Damen.
Laurent didn't answer, but he did give a smile, and reached out to touch Damen, wordlessly. ~ C.S. Pacat

Enguerran looked up at Damen. The last
time they had faced one another,
Enguerran had been trying to
bar Damen from Touars's hall. An
Akielon has no place in the company of
men. ~ C.S. Pacat

Are you going to try it with me? Or do
you only take pleasure in attacking those
who cannot defend themselves?" Damen
heard the hardness in his own voice. He
held his ground. Around them, the tower
room was empty. He had sent everyone
else out. "I remember the last time you
were like this. You blundered so badly
you gave your uncle the excuse he
needed to have you stripped of your
lands. ~ C.S. Pacat

After a moment, Laurent said, 'He would have liked you.'

'Even after I started courting his little brother?' said Damen carefully.

He watched Laurent stop, the way that he did when he was taken by surprise, and then lift his eyes to meet Damen's.

'Yes,' said Laurent softly, his cheeks reddened slightly. ~ C.S. Pacat

You just surprised me,' said Damen. 'Sometimes I think I understand you, and at other times I can't make you out at all.'
'Believe me, that sentiment is mutual. ~ C.S. Pacat

Charls met the Prince of Vere once,' Guilliame said to Damen, lowering his voice to the conspiratorial, 'in a tavern in Nesson, disguised as a,' lowering it further, 'prostitute.'
Damen looked over at Laurent, who was deep in conversation, letting his eyes pass slowly over every familiar feature, the cool expression tipped with gold in the firelight. He said, 'Did he?'
'Charls said, think of the most expensive pet you've ever seen, then double it.'
'Really?' said Damen.
'Of course, Charls knew who he was right away, because he couldn't hide his princely style, and nobility of spirit.'
'Of course,' said Damen. ~ C.S. Pacat

The Veretian palace, afroth with ornament, paid only lip service to defence. The parapets were purposeless curving decorative spires. The slippery domes that he skirted would be a nightmare in an attack, hiding one part of the roof from the other. ~ C.S. Pacat

Order whatever punishment you like, from the coward's distance of a chain-lenght. You and Govart are two of a kind. ~ C.S. Pacat

I'm not sure that's quite what I asked,"
said Laurent. His voice had the same
quality as his gaze. "This is close
quarters."
"Close enough to see your eyelashes,"
said Damen. "It's lucky you do not have
the size to breed great warriors. ~ C.S. Pacat

And any hope Damen had that Laurent
could control this scene ended as
Laurent's face shuttered, as his eyes went
cold, and with the sharp sound of steel,
his sword came out of its sheath. ~ C.S. Pacat

He'll be here, Damen had said, and he believed that, even as the first wave hit and the men around him began to die.
There was a dark logic to it. Have your slave convince the Akielons to fight. Let your enemies do your fighting for you, the casualties taken by the people you despise, the Regent defeated or weakened, and the armies of Nikandros wiped out.
It wasn't until the second wave hit them from the north-west that he realised they were totally alone. ~ C.S. Pacat

It was a kind of fire dance in which the stick was thrown and caught, and the flame, tossed and twirled, created sinuous shapes, circles and ever-moving patterns. Ancel's red hair created a pleasing aesthetic alongside the red and orange fire. And even without the hypnotic movement of the flame, the dance was beguiling, its difficulties made to look effortless, its physicality subtly erotic. Damen looked at Ancel with new respect. This performance required training, discipline and athleticism, which Damen admired. It was the first time that Damen had seen Veretian pets display skill in anything other than wearing clothes or climbing on top of one another. ~ C.S. Pacat

It's me,' said Damen. 'It's me, here with you. Say my name.' 'Damianos.' He ~ C.S. Pacat

Damen found himself alongside Jord. 'If you want to live, ride fast.'

White-faced, Jord took one look at his expression and said, 'He's not coming.'

'We're outnumbered,' said Damen, 'but if you run, you might still make it out.'

'If we're outnumbered, what are you going to do?'

Damen drove his horse onward, ready to take up his own place on the front line.

He said, 'Fight. ~ C.S. Pacat

A minute or two more and Orlant disengaged, and swore. 'Are you going to fight me or not?'
You said we were sparring,' said Damen, neutrally.
Orlant flung down his sword, took two steps off to one of the watching men, and pulled from its sheath thirty inches of polished steel straightsword, which without preamble he returned to swing with killing speed at Damen's neck. ~ C.S. Pacat

He said, 'Damianos.'
Before Damen could tell him to rise, he heard it again, echoed in another voice, and then another. It was passing over the gathered men in the courtyard, his name in tones of shock and of awe. The steward beside Nikandros was kneeling. And then four of the men in the front ranks. And then more, dozens of men, rank after rank of soldiers.
And as Damen looked out, the army was dropping to its knees, until the courtyard was a sea of bowed heads, and silence replaced the murmur of voices, the words spoken over and over again.
'He lives. The King's son lives. Damianos.' ~ C.S. Pacat

Because a king maker would always choose the weaker man. The weaker the man, the easier he is to control.' Damen ~ C.S. Pacat

You're better than I am.'
Damen couldn't help his amused breath of reaction to that, or the long, scrolling look from Laurent's head to his toes and back again, which was probably a little insulting. But really. ~ C.S. Pacat

The Regency,' said Laurent, addressing the troop, 'thought to take us outnumbered. It expected us to roll over without a fight.'
Damen said: 'We will not let them cow us, subdue us or force us down. Ride hard. Don't stop to fight the front line. We are going to smash them open. We are here to fight for our Prince!'
The cry rang out, For the Prince! The men gripped their swords, slammed their visors down, and the sound they made was a roar. ~ C.S. Pacat

I don't have sleeves to carry handkerchiefs in,' said Damen. 'I wouldn't mind being given a knife.' 'Or a fork?' said Laurent. ~ C.S. Pacat

I lean back against the velvet-cushioned seat and close my eyes to the sound of hooves pounding hard against the cobblestone streets. Their clip-clopping harmony keeping perfect tempo with the rumble of carriage wheels, affording a sound as sweet as any symphony I've ever heard.
It's the sound of escape
The sound of goodbye
A sound that's served to soothe me in the past, providing the much-needed assurance that the unwelcome inquiries and suspicions of newly alerted acquaintances would soon fade - allowing for a brief respite in a new location, before I'm on the move again.
I'm a gypsy.
A nomad.
A vagabond.
A drifter. ~ Alyson Noel

Did you learn the rotation of the border patrols?' said Laurent.

'Yes, our scouts found - '

Laurent was standing in the doorway wearing a chiton of unadorned white cotton.

Damen dropped the pitcher.

It shattered, shards flying outward as it slipped from his fingers and hit the stone floor.

Laurent's arms were bare. His throat was bare. His collarbone was bare, and most of his thighs, his long legs, and all of his left shoulder. Damen stared at him.

'You're wearing Akielon clothing,' said Damen.

'Everyone's wearing Akielon clothing,' said Laurent.

Damen thought that the pitcher had shattered and he could not now take a deep draught of the wine. Laurent came forward, navigating the broken ceramic in his short cotton and sandalled feet, until he reached the seat beside Damen, where the map was laid out on the wooden table.

'Once we know the rotation of the patrols, we'll know when to approach,' said Laurent.

Laurent sat down.

'We need to approach at the beginning of their rotation in order to give us the most time before they report back to the fort.'

It was even shorter sitting down.

'Damen.'

'Yes. Sorry,' said Damen. And then: 'What were you saying? ~ C.S. Pacat

Nicaise had picked up a gilt three-pronged fork, but had paused before sampling the dish in order to speak. The fear he'd shown of Damen at the ring seemed to still be there. His knuckles, clenched around the fork, were white.

'It's all right,' said Damen. He spoke to the boy as gently as he could. 'I'm not going to hurt you.'

Nicaise stared back at him. His huge blue eyes were fringed like a whore's, or like a doe's. Around them, the table was a coloured wall of voices and laughter, courtiers caught up in their own amusements, paying them no attention.

'Good,' said Nicaise, and stabbed the fork viciously into Damen's thigh under the table.

Even through a layer of cloth, it was enough to make Damen start, and instinctively grab the fork, as three drops of blood welled up.

'Excuse me a moment,' Laurent said smoothly, turning from Torveld to face Nicaise.

'I made your pet jump,' said Nicaise, smugly.

Not sounding at all displeased: 'Yes, you did.'

'Whatever you're planning, it's not going to work.'

'I think it will, though. Bet you your earring.'

'If I win, you wear it,' said Nicaise.

Laurent immediately lifted his cup and inclined it toward Nicaise in a little gesture sealing the bet. Damen tried to shake the bizarre impression that they were enjoying themselves.

Nicaise waved an attendant over and asked for a new fork. ~ C.S. Pacat

You'll always be safe with me. ~ Alyson Noel

This place sickened him. Anywhere else, you simply killed your enemy with a sword. Or poisoned him, if you had the honourless instincts of an assassin. Here, it was layer upon layer of constructed double-dealing, dark, polished and unpleasant. He would have assumed tonight the product of Laurent's own mind, if Laurent were not so clearly the victim. ~ C.S. Pacat

You came', said Laurent.
'You knew I would', said Damen.
'If you need an army to take your capital', said Laurent, 'I seem to have one'
Damen let out a strange breath. They were gazing at each other. Laurent said, 'after all, I owe you a fort ~ C.S. Pacat

Why do you give me good advice?"
asked Laurent.
Isn't that why you brought me with
you? Instead of speaking those words
aloud, Damen said, "Why don't you take
any of it? ~ C.S. Pacat

Oh, so you see some chick in baggy jeans and a hoodie, and you just have to have her so bad, you decide to repeat high school, just to get her?"
"Sounds about right." He laughs. ~ Alyson Noel

Does it really matter if I choose the bus over a BMW, and generic over Gucci? Because the car, the wardrobe, the zip code-those are just nouns, things that are fun to have around, sure, but in the end, they have nothing to do with the real me. Nothing to do with who I really am. ~ Alyson Noel

They trundled on for two miles, until the checkpoint was safely out of sight behind a hill, when the wagon stopped and the door swung open. Laurent stepped out of the wagon, wearing only a loose Veretian shirt, slightly dishevelled over his pants. Nikandros looked from him to the wagon and back again.
He said, 'How did you convince Jokaste to play along with the guards?'
'I didn't,' said Laurent.
He tossed the wad of blue silk in his hands to one of the soldiers to dispose of, then shrugged into his jacket in a rather mannish gesture.
Nikandros was staring at him.
'Don't think about it too much,' said Damen. ~ C.S. Pacat

It's what I came here last night to say. I'm going to take care of it.' 'Promise me,' Damen heard himself say. 'Promise me we won't let him - ' 'I promise.' Laurent ~ C.S. Pacat

Damen's palm slid over Laurent's warm nape; slowly, very slowly, making his height an offering, not a threat, Damen leaned in and kissed Laurent on the mouth. The kiss was barely a suggestion of itself, with no yielding of the rigidity in Laurent, but the first kiss became a second, after a fraction of parting in which Damen felt the flicker of Laurent's shallow breathing against his own lips. It ~ C.S. Pacat

He was suspicious, distrustful and greedy, as only a brother could be. ~ Peter James West

I want you to know,' said Damen, carefully, 'that I haven't done anything to encourage the idea that I-that you and I-'
'If I thought you had, I'd have had you tied to a post and flogged until your front matched your back. ~ C.S. Pacat

The two walked off together, leaving Damen with Aimeric.
'He hates you,' said Aimeric, cheerfully. ~ C.S. Pacat

And I start to say, no.
Start to ask him to please just take it off and put it away.
Start to explain how it holds far too many memories for me.
But then I remember what Damen said once about memories - that they're haunting things.
And because I refuse to be haunted by mine - I just take a deep breath and smile when I say, You know, I think it looks really good on you. You should defiantly keep it. ~ Alyson Noel

Coiled and personal, Laurent's gift was a Veretian whip, made of gold.
Damen recognized it.
[ ... ]
His gaze flung to Laurent. He knew he had flushed, he could feel the heat in his own cheeks. In front of the gathered generals, he couldn't say, What have you done? ~ C.S. Pacat

Reporting to Jord, Damen found himself caught in a conversation that he wasn't ready for. 'I could tell from your face. You didn't know he could fight.' 'No,' said Damen. 'I didn't.' 'It's in his blood.' 'The Regent's men seemed just as surprised as I was.' 'He's private about it. ~ C.S. Pacat

Laurent flushed. The colour hit his
cheeks hard, and a muscle tightened in
his jaw as whatever he felt was forcibly
repressed. It was not like any reaction
that Damen had ever seen from him
before, and he couldn't resist pushing it a
little further. ~ C.S. Pacat

But my attention's elsewhere, drawn to that warm wonderful pull, the familiar loving essence that only belongs to one person - only belongs to him
Watching as Damen cuts through the water, board tucked under his arm, body so sculpted, so bronzed, Rembrandt would weep. Water sluicing behind him like a hot knife through butter, cleanly, fluidly, as though parting the sea.
My lips part, desperate to speak, to call out his name and bring him back to me. But just as I'm about to, my eyes meet his and I see what he sees: me - hair tangled and wet - clothes twisted and clinging - frolicking in the ocean on a hot sunny day with Jude's tanned strong arms still wrapped around me.
I release myself from Jude's grip, but it's too late. Damen's already seen me.
Already moved on.
Leaving me hollow, breathless, as I watch him retreat.
No tulips, no telepathic message, just a sad, empty void left behind in his place. ~ Alyson Noel

Laurent said, 'I didn't think anyone was good enough to get past your guard.' 'One person,' said Damen. ~ C.S. Pacat

He became aware of a man drawn
alongside them, frozen in stillness even
in the midst of battle, and
knew that what had just happened had
been seen, and overheard.
He turned, the truth on his face. Stripped
bare, he could not hide himself in that
moment. Laurent, he thought, and lifted
his gaze to meet the eyes of the man who
had witnessed the last words of Lord
Touars.
It wasn't Laurent. It was Jord.
He was staring at Damen in horror, his
sword lax in his hand. ~ C.S. Pacat

No. Wait. I ... wait.
Damen stopped, and turned. Laurent's
gaze was edged with indecipherable
emotion, and his jaw was set
at a new angle. The silence stretched out
for such a long time that the words, when
they came, were a shock. ~ C.S. Pacat

Damen, seriously, you must know I don't love you because you're immortal, I love you because you're you. ~ Alyson Noel

What are you doing?" Damen's breath
was shaky.
"What am I doing? You are not very
observant."
"You're not yourself," said Damen. "And
even if you were, you don't do anything
without a dozen motives."
Laurent went very still, the soft words
half bitter. "Don't I? I must want
something. ~ C.S. Pacat

He did remember being supported by two of the guards, here, in this room, while Radel stared at his back in horror. "The Prince really . . . did this?" "Who else?" Damen said. Radel ~ C.S. Pacat

Congratulations,' said Damen. 'You've forced my hand. You have what you want. Delpha, in exchange for your aid in the south. Nothing given freely, nothing done out of feeling, everything coerced, with bloodless planning.' 'Then I have your agreement? Say it.' 'You have my agreement.' 'Good, ~ C.S. Pacat

There was a strange doubling, brother for brother, Laurent close as Auguste has been, and Damen even less defended, Laurent's fingers on te place where he had been run through. ~ C.S. Pacat

But he had asked himself the question in Ravenel, and now he knew the answer.
A kingdom, or this ~ C.S. Pacat

My throne for your throne,' Damen said. He pushed back the fabric. It was more bare skin than Laurent had ever shown in public, on display to the entire tent. 'Help me regain my kingdom, and I'll see you King of Vere.' Damen fitted the cuff to Laurent's left wrist. 'I'm overjoyed to wear a gift that reminds me of you,' said Laurent. The cuff locked into place. ~ C.S. Pacat

Damen said, with helpless honesty, "Laurent, I am your slave."

The words laid him open, truth exposed in the space between them. He wanted to prove it, as though, inarticulate, he could make up for what divided them. He was aware of the shallowness of Laurent's breath, it matched his own; they were breathing each other's air.

He reached out, watching for any hesitation in Laurent's eyes. The touch he offered was accepted as it had not been last time, fingers gentle on Laurent's jaw, thumb passing over his cheekbone, soft. Laurent's controlled body was hard with tension, his rapid pulse urgent for flight, but he closed his eyes in the last seconds before it happened. Damen's palm slid over Laurent's warm nape; slowly, very slowly, making his height an offering, not a threat, Damen leaned in and kissed Laurent on the mouth.

The kiss was barely a suggestion of itself, with no yielding of the rigidity in Laurent, but the first kiss became a second, after a fraction of parting in which Damen felt the flicker of Laurent's shallow breathing against his own lips.

It felt, in all the lies between them, as if this was the only true thing. It didn't matter that he was leaving tomorrow. He felt remade with the desire to give Laurent this: to give him all he would allow, and to ask for nothing, this careful threshold something to be savoured because it was all Laurent would let himself have. ~ C.S. Pacat

That's right, I'm still captured,' said Damen.
'Your eyes say, "For now,"' Laurent said. 'Your eyes have always said, "For now. ~ C.S. Pacat

Makedon was explaining the virtues of iron tea to Laurent, and when Laurent massaged his own temple with finely bred fingers, Makedon remarked, rising, 'You should have your slave fetch you some.'

'Fetch me some,' Laurent said.
Damen rose. And stopped.

Laurent had gone very still. Damen stood there, awkwardly. He could think of no other reason why he had stood up.

He looked up and his eyes met those of Nikandros, who was staring at him. Nikandros was with a small group to one side of the table, the last of the men in the hall. He was the only one to have seen and heard. Damen just stood there.

'This meeting is over,' Nikandros announced to the men around him, too loudly. 'The King is ready to ride. ~ C.S. Pacat

Wash me." Damen had never performed a servile task in his life, but he supposed that this one would not overwhelm either his pride or his comprehension. By now he knew the customs of the baths. But he felt a sense of subtle satisfaction from Laurent, and a corresponding internal resistance. It was an uncomfortably intimate form of attendance; he was not restrained, and they were alone, one man serving another. All ~ C.S. Pacat

I thought killing was easy for you," said Laurent. His voice was rather quiet. "I thought you did it without thinking."
"I'm a soldier," said Damen, "and I have been for a long time. I've killed on the sawdust. I've killed in battle. Is that what you mean by easy?"
"You know it isn't," said Laurent, in that same quiet voice. ~ C.S. Pacat

Think he'll kill him? another
speculated.
Damen knew the answer to that question.
Laurent was not going to kill him. He
was going to break him.
Here, in front of everyone. ~ C.S. Pacat

The Crown Prince was camped at Nesson this very minute, on his way to the border to stand up to Akielos. He was a young man serious about his responsibilities, Charls said. Damen had to make an effort not to look over at Laurent, gambling, when he said it. ~ C.S. Pacat

From the severe, straight-backed posture to the impersonal grace of his cupped yellow head; from his detached blue eyes to the arrogance of his cheekbones, Laurent was complicated and contradictory, and Damen could look nowhere else. ~ C.S. Pacat

Of course, I didn't kill them. They're just taking a little ... siesta, that's all. ~ Alyson Noel

Is today the first time you've been beaten in an okton?'
'Technically, it was a draw,' said Damen.
'Technically. I told you I was quite good at riding. I used to beat Auguste all the time when we raced at Chastillon. It took me until I was nine to realise he was letting me win. I just thought I had a very fast pony. You're smiling. ~ C.S. Pacat

When you lost your brother, was there someone to comfort you?"
"Yes," said Laurent. "In a way."
"Then I'm glad," said Damen. "I'm glad that you weren't alone."
Laurent pushed himself away, up into a sitting position, and for a moment he sat, without speaking. He pushed his palms into his eye sockets.
"What is it?"
"It's nothing," said Laurent. ~ C.S. Pacat

You can't change generational poverty by sitting on your ass. Let's get to work! ~ Damen Lopez

Charcy is claimed for Akielos.' As he rose, Damen wrapped his hand around its wooden pole and planted it in the earth. The ~ C.S. Pacat

Did you ever stop and think that maybe you were supposed to survive? That maybe, it wasn't just Damen who saved you? And ~ Alyson Noel

So cute how you called out for Damen after conjuring that chaste little love scene in your head. ~ Alyson Noel

A hiss of a rock, thrown. Nikandros came up off his knees, drawing his sword. Damen flung out a hand in a motion for halt, stopping Nikandros instantly, his sword showing a half-foot of Akielon steel. He could see the confusion on Nikandros's face, as the courtyard around them began to disintegrate. 'Damianos?' 'Order your men to hold,' said Damen, even as the sharp sound of steel closer by had him turning fast. A ~ C.S. Pacat

The collar came first, and when Guerin drew it from his neck he felt the collar's absence like a lightness, his spine unfurling, his shoulders settling.
Like a lie, cracking and dropping from him. ~ C.S. Pacat

By that time, Damen had received the tally of the dead: twelve hundred of us, six and a half thousand of them. He ~ C.S. Pacat

She was intelligent, accomplished, beautiful. She was everything I could have asked for in a woman. But she was a king maker. She wanted power. She must have thought her only path to the throne was through Kastor.'
'My honourable barbarian. I wouldn't have picked that as your type.'
'Type?'
'A pretty face, a devious mind and a ruthless nature. ~ C.S. Pacat

Torveld favoured Laurent with another of those long, admiring looks that were starting to come with grating frequency. Damen frowned. Laurent was a nest of scorpions in the body of one person. Torveld looked at him and saw a buttercup. ~ C.S. Pacat

The next night, alone in the tent, Laurent said: 'As we draw closer to the border, I think it would be safer
more private
to hold our discussions in your language rather than mine.'
He said it in carefully pronounced Akielon.
Damen stared at him, feeling as though the world had just been rearranged.
'What is it?' said Laurent.
'Nice accent,' said Damen, because despite everything, the corner of his mouth was beginning helplessly to curve up.
[ ... ]
It was of course no surprise to find that Laurent had a well-stocked armoury of elegant phrases and bitchy remarks, but could not talk in detail about anything sensible. ~ C.S. Pacat

I should make you watch, said Laurent, while he's stripped down for every man in the troop to have him."
Damen stepped forward. "You don't mean this. You need him as a hostage."
"I don't need him continent," said Laurent. ~ C.S. Pacat

If you bind your men to you with deception, how can you ever trust them? You have qualities they will come to admire. Why not let them grow to trust you naturally, and in that way
'
'There isn't time,' said Laurent.
The words pushed themselves with sheer force out of whatever wordless state Laurent had been shocked into.
'There isn't time,' Laurent said again. 'I have two weeks until we reach the border. Don't pretend that I can woo these men with hard work and a winning smile in that time. I am not the green colt my uncle pretends. I fought at Marlas and I fought at Sanpelier. I am not here for niceties. I don't intend to see the men I lead cut down because they will not obey orders, or because they cannot hold a line. I intend to survive, I intend to beat my uncle, and I will fight with every weapon that I have. ~ C.S. Pacat

After a long moment Laurent said, with painful honesty, "I ... find it difficult to let go of control."
"No kidding," said Damen. ~ C.S. Pacat

I want your best room,' said Laurent, 'with a big bed and a private bath, and if you send up the house boy, you'll find out the hard way that I don't like sharing.'
He delivered the innkeeper a long, cool look.
He's expensive,' said Damen to the innkeeper, by way of apology. ~ C.S. Pacat

Damianos," Touars said. "Princekiller."
It was the last thing he said. Damen
pulled the sword out. He took a step
back. ~ C.S. Pacat

The shock of collision was like the smashing of boulders in the landslide at Nesson. Damen felt the familiar battering shudder, the sudden shift in scale as the panorama of the charge was abruptly replaced by the slam of muscle against metal, of horse and man impacting at speed. Nothing could be heard over the crashing, the roars of men, both sides warping and threatening to rupture, regular lines and upright banners replaced by a heaving, struggling mass. Horses slipped, then regained their footing; others fell, slashed or speared through. ~ C.S. Pacat

Damen said, "If you tell him, I can't
serve him."
"Tell him?" said Jord. "Tell him the man
he trusts has lied, and lied again, has
deceived him into the worst
humiliation?"
"I wouldn't hurt him," said Damen, and
heard the words drop like lead.
"You killed his brother, then got him
under you in bed. ~ C.S. Pacat

Laurent asked, 'Is it different than with a man?' 'Yes,' said Damen. It was different with everyone. He didn't say this aloud; ~ C.S. Pacat

All right,' he heard Lazar say.
He'd forgotten Lazar was there. After a long moment, he took his eyes off Laurent and looked back at Lazar, who was gazing at him with a rather dry but understanding smile quirking the side of his mouth.
'All right what?' said Damen.
'All right, you're not fucking him,' said Lazar. ~ C.S. Pacat

Damen felt it then, the first dizzy edge of new emotion, and he let go his hold of Laurent like a man fearing a precipice; and yet was helpless. ~ C.S. Pacat

Damen looked around himself at the gathered men. He looked first to the Prince's men, instinctively expecting to see his own reaction to the fight mirrored on their faces, but instead they showed gratification coupled with a total lack of surprise. None of them had been concerned that Laurent might lose, he realised. The ~ C.S. Pacat

I'm not going to use the knife," said
Damen, "but if you're willing to put it in
my hand, you underestimate how much I
want to."
"No," said Laurent, "I know exactly what
it is to want to kill a man, and to wait. ~ C.S. Pacat