Alex de Campi > Quotes

“There's nothing on Earth like really nailing the last line of a big book. You have 200 pages to tickle their fancy, and seven words to break their heart.”
― Alex de Campi

“Then, in the most beautiful French Harry has ever heard, the boy whispers, ‘Of course I can fucking swim, you great Sassenach idiot. I grew up in a tower in the middle of a loch.”
― Alex de Campi, The Scottish Boy

“I don't know what we're doing. I don't know what this is. I prayed so hard, throughout my time away from here, that I could... be your friend. W-without sin. I thought I had succeeded. And I come back, and with one look from you I am ablaze again.”
― Alex de Campi, The Scottish Boy

“I will always come back to you. Always. Even if I have to drag myself out of the grave to do it.”
― Alex de Campi, The Scottish Boy

“Iain,' he says softly. 'If you're in heaven, I cannot let you go. I keep seeing you, trying to put you back in the world by sheer force of desire. I saw you in the Black Knight, and I feel like every step I make in this palace I am walking in your footprints. I you really are here, please know that I still love you more than anything in the world, and would make any sacrifice to have you with me again.' He shuts his eyes. 'And if you are but a spirit, protecting me, thank you for that. I have needed it, I have always needed you.”
― Alex de Campi, The Scottish Boy

“The boy laughs, sharp and hollow. ‘You killed them all and you don’t even know my name. Fuck you. Death. That’s my name.”
― Alex de Campi, The Scottish Boy

“Why can’t you just hate me?’ Iain sobs under his breath. ‘It would be so much easier.’ ‘Save your energy,’ Harry says. ‘We can fight tomorrow. Right now we have to rinse those scrapes out with vinegar before they fester. You’ve brought half the moor home with you.”
― Alex de Campi, The Scottish Boy

“There is only the bottomless fury that comes with the betrayal of love”
― Alex de Campi, The Scottish Boy

“Well, then,’ Harry says, rolling away from Iain and sitting up. ‘Let’s get out there and hit each other.’ ‘You have got to be fucking kidding,’ Iain says. ‘It’s England,’ Harry replies. ‘Fighting in the rain is an important skill.”
― Alex de Campi, The Scottish Boy

“Harry lies there and tries to glimpse the divine reason for Sir Simon’s death. For his mother’s. Because the alternative thought – that God doesn’t have a plan, that all this random pain and cruelty is merely the purposeless lurching of the human animal as it comes howling into the world and then goes screaming out of it – is unbearable.”
― Alex de Campi, The Scottish Boy

“The hurt is all he has left. Once it's gone, he won't feel anything at all.”
― Alex de Campi, The Scottish Boy

“Harry isn’t even surprised by the reward given to evil men any more.”
― Alex de Campi, The Scottish Boy

“He shakes his head, and fights the urge to put it in the way of Rabbie’s mace. He’ll be riding up and asking for Iain’s favour next, to wear into battle. What a concept. His squire’s favour. (It would be something pale blue, he thinks. A scrap of ribbon he could wear around his wrist, where nobody would know.)”
― Alex de Campi, The Scottish Boy

“He doesn’t tell Iain. There’s no point. Iain would do something stupid, like try to kill Rabbie in his sleep. (It’s tempting to tell Iain.)”
― Alex de Campi, The Scottish Boy

“A family doesn’t hold onto the crown that long by being nice people, Harry.”
― Alex de Campi, The Scottish Boy

“Given everyone’s abundant good cheer, Harry guesses that Iain hasn’t killed anyone and/or run away. But it’s always good to check.”
― Alex de Campi, The Scottish Boy

“everyone at Dartington continues with the conspiracy of Not Talking About Iain. Harry lasts three weeks before he loses his mind.”
― Alex de Campi, The Scottish Boy

“There has been no one else,’ Iain breathes. ‘Beyond the afternoon I used Rolly. Which,’ he sighs, ‘wasn’t my finest moment.’ ‘Do not ever mention his name again,’ Harry growls, digging his fingers into the firm flesh of Iain’s backside. ‘Don’t ever go near him again.”
― Alex de Campi, The Scottish Boy

“As he scratches her bristly nose, he says, ‘You know my palfrey, Star.’ ‘Well, not personally,’ Iain says.”
― Alex de Campi, The Scottish Boy

“There is only the bottomless fury that comes from a betrayal of love.”
― Alex de Campi, The Scottish Boy

“Harry holds up his hands, palms toward Rabbie, with a calm expression on his face. "I remember Lord Montagu once telling me that a cage was the safest way to transport a prisoner. Perhaps we have more in common with our French cousins than we thought.”
― Alex de Campi, The Scottish Boy

“It's wrong to encase a monster in flesh, to give it a face. It belittles the darkness, makes it smaller, dimmer, to decant it into the image of one particular man .”
― Alex de Campi, Dracula, Motherf**ker!

“Then Iain’s on him, trying to pin his arms while tickling him, teasing him about how loudly he snores.”
― Alex de Campi, The Scottish Boy

“The boy spits, hitting Harry in the cheek. ‘You killed my family. I will kill every one of you.’ Harry uses his free hand – the one that isn’t gripping the boy’s bicep against his next escape attempt – to wipe the saliva from his face. He sighs, and changes tack. ‘I’m Harry. What’s your name?”
― Alex de Campi, The Scottish Boy

“Harry hears Ralf stride up beside him, and glances up at the big blacksmith. ‘Thanks for standing by today.’ ‘My pleasure,’ Ralf says, his eyes on Iain’s back. His next words are a whisper. ‘He’s determined to hate you.’ ‘I know,’ Harry breathes. ‘And he’s furious with himself that he’s failing,’ the blacksmith continues.”
― Alex de Campi, The Scottish Boy

“There is never a perfect time to make art. It's snatched hours between duties, or after the family goes to bed. Get it down; fix it later.”
― Alex de Campi

“Iain,’ he says softly. ‘If you’re in heaven, I cannot let you go. I keep seeing you, trying to put you back in the world by sheer force of desire. I saw you in the Black Knight, and I feel like every step I make in this palace I am walking in your footprints. If you really are here, please know that I still love you more than anything in the world, and would make any sacrifice to have you with me again.’ He shuts his eyes. ‘And if you are but a spirit, protecting me, thank you for that. I have needed it. I have always needed you.”
― Alex de Campi, The Scottish Boy

“Iain,' he says softly. 'Of you're in heaven, I cannot let you go. I keep seeing you, trying to put you back in the world by sheer force of desire. I saw you in the Black Knight, and I feel like every step I make in this palace I am walking in your footprints. I you really are here, please know that I still love you more than anything in the world, and would make any sacrifice to have you with me again.' He shuts his eyes. 'And if you are but a spirit, protecting me, thank you for that. I have needed it, I have always needed you.”
― Alex de Campi, The Scottish Boy

“Harry is glad he is riding to war. He badly wants to harm a lot of things.”
― Alex de Campi, The Scottish Boy

“Don't get hung up by loud people telling you that you have to do X per day, or in a certain way. That's some horseshit. Craft is crucial--”
― Alex de Campi