Sebastien de Castell > Quotes

“I must have encountered the Duke somewhere on the road because I was carrying a sack with me and his head was in it.”
― Sebastien de Castell, Traitor's Blade

“I’m a woman, kid. You probably haven’t met one before, coming as you do from this backward place, but it’s like a man only smarter and with bigger balls.”
― Sebastien de Castell, Spellslinger

“Gods, man, don't you start now,' I said softly. 'We're going to get a terrible reputation if we just keep travelling across the countryside crying all the time.”
― Sebastien de Castell, Traitor's Blade

“When you're fighting a crowd, it's good to shout potentially threatening things like "Crossbows!" or "Fire!" or "Giant Flying Cat!" every once in a while.”
― Sebastien de Castell, Traitor's Blade

“First thing you learn wandering the long roads, kid. Everyone thinks they're the hero of their own story.”
― Sebastien de Castell, Spellslinger

“We all got ugliness inside us, Kellen. Yours is worse? Then fight harder. Figure it out. But don’t you ever pretend you don’t have a choice.”
― Sebastien de Castell, Spellslinger

“History is written by the victors,’ she said, ‘but the truth has a way of revealing itself.”
― Sebastien de Castell, Spellslinger

“That's what being free means - not the right to do whatever you want, but the right to take a stand and say what you'll die for.”
― Sebastien de Castell, Traitor's Blade

“It's stories that inspire people to change. It's stories that make them believe things can be better.”
― Sebastien de Castell, Knight's Shadow

“The archer is the true weapon; the bow is just a long piece of wood.”
― Sebastien de Castell, Traitor's Blade

“Everyone shush now,’ I said, taking a step towards the guards. ‘I’m about to be impressive.”
― Sebastien de Castell, Tyrant's Throne

“I rolled my eyes at Kest. We'd heard this lecture many times before, but Trin hadn't, so she stepped right into it.
"Is it really so hard?" She asked
"My dear, not one man in a hundred can be a proper archer. And not one in ten thousand can become a master."
"And you are one? A master archer, i mean?"
Brasti smiled and contemplated the nails of his right hand. "One might fairly say so, i believe."
"One says so frequently," I observed.”
― Sebastien de Castell, Traitor's Blade

“When you see the world outside your home town, outside the walls of what you were brought up to see, then you discover that you almost never know if you're dong the right thing. One action, brave and true, leads to war and destruction. Another, craven and greedy, leads to peace and prosperity.”
― Sebastien de Castell, Spellslinger

“But no man is all one thing; none of us are pure in our beliefs or our devotions. We are all bound by the frailties of our humanity, some of which feed our hatred, some of which, very occasionally, make us want to be something better.”
― Sebastien de Castell, Saint's Blood

“Feltock bit the inside of his cheek. Then he said, ‘And you think you remember everyone who was there that day?’
I thought about it for a moment. ‘Not everyone, ’I replied. Feltock was looking at me intently, trying to see if I knew, if I did remember. More trouble than it will be worth, I thought, but I was a little drunk and a little tired so I said, ‘But since you’re asking, yes, General Feltock, I remember you.’
Feltock’s eyes went wide for a moment, but then he gave a bitter laugh. ‘Not “General”, ’he said. ‘Not for a few years now. ’We drank some more in silence. ‘So,’he said, uncrossing his legs with a crack. ‘Are you gonna come for me next, boy?’
I sighed. ‘No.’
‘Why not? I was there, wasn’t I? I was one of those what took down your King, wasn’t I? So what’s the difference between me and Lynniac?’
‘You didn’t laugh. ’He just looked at me for a while and then said, ‘Huh’. Then he stood up and started walking back to the wagons.
‘Why “Captain”Feltock?’ I asked when he was a few paces away. ‘Why aren’t you a general any more?’
Feltock turned and gave me a sour grin. He tossed the rest of his wineskin back to me.
‘Because, boy, when they put the King’s head on that pole, I forgot to laugh.”
― Sebastien de Castell, Traitor's Blade

“Your ancient enemy is basically just a really, really big squirrel”
― Sebastien de Castell, Spellslinger

“It's called the Way of Water, Dexan. You tried to kill me, so now I get to keep your hat. - Kellen”
― Sebastien de Castell, Shadowblack

“First thing you learn travelling the long roads, kid: language is as much in the way you speak as the words you choose.”
― Sebastien de Castell, Shadowblack

“Squirrel cats, it turns out, are sarcastic assholes.”
― Sebastien de Castell, Spellslinger

“I don't know how well I can fight, or run, or judge, but when the blade comes, I swear on whatever they want me to swear on, I'll stop it, with my body if nothing else.”
― Sebastien de Castell, Traitor's Blade

“Perfect,' she said, then promptly sat down in the dirt. 'I'm just going to sit here until the world starts making sense, if that's all right.'
'You might be waiting a long time,' I said.”
― Sebastien de Castell, Shadowblack

“If Kest ever becomes a Saint, the transcendent expression of an ideal, he’s going to be Saint Kest-who-never-fucking-learns.”
― Sebastien de Castell, Traitor's Blade

“Eventually Reichis asked, 'You know why this is such a stupid idea?'
'You said that already. Like, twelve times.'
'Yeah, but do you know WHY it's a stupid idea?'
I stopped. 'Why?'
Reichis shivered on my shoulder. 'Because this place is giving me the creeps, and I'm a squirrel cat - normally we're the ones giving other people the creeps.”
― Sebastien de Castell, Shadowblack

“Never trust a man who brings a hundred soldiers to a wedding”
― Sebastien de Castell, Tyrant's Throne

“Dwelling on all the bad things that didn’t even come to pass only makes it harder to celebrate that fact. Stop being so scared about yesterday—it only makes you forget to appreciate today.”
― Sebastien de Castell, Charmcaster

“The First Law is that men are free, for without the freedom to choose, men cannot serve their heart, and without heart they cannot serve their Gods, their Saints, or their King.”
― Sebastien de Castell, Traitor's Blade

“Happiness is a series of grains of sand spread out in a desert of violence and anguish.”
― Sebastien de Castell, Knight's Shadow

“Nehra frowned. “Do you always run headlong into certain death?” “Sometimes he walks,” Dariana said. “Occasionally he shuffles. Once I’m pretty sure I saw him amble into certain death.” Nehra rolled her eyes. “You risk your lives on foolish odds.”
― Sebastien de Castell, Knight's Shadow

“She turned back to the rest of us. "They've taken it all," she said. "They've taken every last good thing in the world."
Then she swung the door wide. "Now go and show them your answer.”
― Sebastien de Castell, Traitor's Blade

“Words matter. Without words you can't have stories and without stories we would never have heard of the Greatcoats.”
― Sebastien de Castell, Knight's Shadow