There have been many more beautiful women, and thousands who were better, but since the world was weaned I doubt there have been many so unforgettable as Guinevere, eldest daughter of Leodegan, the exiled King of Henis Wyren. And it would have been better, Merlin always said, had she been drowned at birth.
p. 172, The Winter King: a Novel of Arthur. Bernard Cornwell
'Get the mines working, rebuild the bridges, pave the fords, dig out the sluices and find a way of persuading the Sais to go back home. That's enough work for one man's life, don't you think?"
'Yes, Lord', I said nervously, and wondered by a warlord would busy himself repairing water conduits.
p. 109, The Winter King
'Dear sweet God!' Sansum bellowed. 'Thy servant comes, slaughtered by wicked men and their foul witch! All I did was obey Your word. Receive me, Lord! Receive Thy humble servant!' This was followed by a scream as he anticipated his death, but it was only Issa lifting him by the scruff of the neck and the seat of his robe and carrying him gently away from the stone pile to the pond where he dropped Sansum into the shallow, muddy water. 'I'm drowning, Lord!' Sansum shouted. 'Cast into mighty waters like Jonah into the ocean! A martyr for Christ! As Paul and Peter were martyred, Lord, so now I come!' He blew some urgent bubbles, but no one besides his God was taking any notice and so he slowly dragged himself out of the muddy duckweed to spit curses at my men who were eagerly dragging the stones aside.
p. 311, The Winter King
Great teasers! I read Cornwell's King Arthur trilogy back in high school but reading your teasers makes me want to revisit them again at some point =)
ReplyDeleteHere are my book teasers for this week =)