Swordspoint Quotes

“Let the fairy tale begin on a winter's morning, then, with one drop of blood newly-fallen on the ivory snow: a drop as bright as a clear-cut ruby, red as a single spot of claret on the lace cuff.”
― Ellen Kushner, Swordspoint

“Richard knew he was fighting for his life, and he was terribly happy.”
― Ellen Kushner, Swordspoint

“The time of testing, and of playing, was over. This was the final duel for one of them. Now they were fighting for their lives--for the one life that would emerge from this elegant battle. . . . For the moment the two of them were evenly matched, arm against arm. Michael prayed that it would never stop, that there would always be this moment of utter mastery, beautiful and rare, and no conclusion ever be reached.”
― Ellen Kushner, Swordspoint

“Que comience el cuento de hadas una mañana de invierno, en tal caso, con una gota recién caída en la nieve marfileña: una gota tan brillante como un rubí bien cortado, roja como una solitaria mancha de clarete en un puño de encaje. Y lo que aquí se sigue, por consiguiente, es que el mal acecha detrás de cada ventana rota, maquinando malicia y encantamiento; mientras que detrás de los postigos cerrados los justos duermen sus sueños a esta temprana hora en la Ribera. Pronto despertarán para ocuparse de sus quehaceres; y uno, tal vez, será tan adorable como el día y estará armado, como lo están los justos, para enfrentarse a un triunfo predestinado...”
― Ellen Kushner, Swordspoint

“Every man lives at swordspoint, Ferris intoned.”
― Ellen Kushner, Swordspoint

“I wonder if you men have any idea of how insulting it is to women when you assume that all we can offer is our bodies?”
― Ellen Kushner, Swordspoint

“Alec’s hand was at his lips. “You’ve got to go!” His voice cracked. “They won’t let you walk out of this, they don’t dare! I know them, Richard!” Richard tightened his arm around Alec’s shoulders, wordlessly trying to comfort, to drain the tension from the anguished spirit. But the touch was not enough. “Richard, I know them— they won’t let you live!” He turned his face in to Richard’s chest, his body clenched again in a frozen spasm not of weeping but of fury. At a loss, Richard turned again to the words that still flowed through his mind like water: Day followed day, with never night between: Feasting and all manner of delight Hedged him ’round like hounds their quarry’s heart—”
― Ellen Kushner, Swordspoint

“He had no reason to want to avenge Horn, and for Applethorpe no vengeance would ever be enough. It was natural for him to want to hurt the man who had been the instrument of his first adult grief; natural, but not right.”
― Ellen Kushner, Swordspoint

“It was not for Halliday to judge another's personal relationships: everyone in the city was strange, if you looked deeply enough.”
― Ellen Kushner, Swordspoint

“—Ellos tienen las espadas. —Lord Halliday sonrió mirándose las manos—. Nosotros tenemos todos los demás. Las cosas se igualan, no obstante, con una punta de acero en la garganta.
—Todo el mundo vive a punta de espada —entonó Ferris.”
― Ellen Kushner, Swordspoint

“—Los duelos sólo son a muerte cuando lo que hay en juego es una de estas dos cosas: poder o dinero.
—¿Qué hay del honor?
—¿Qué se puede comprar con el honor? —preguntó cínicamente la duquesa.”
― Ellen Kushner, Swordspoint

“After the lesson, his mouth dry, he went up to the Master and asked, “What did you mean by that, the best?”
Applethorpe held out his arm, and one of his assistants removed his glove for him. He said to Michael, “The true swordsmen, of course. Men who must earn their living fighting to the death—and who must win every time. There aren’t very many of them, of course; most last only a season or two before they die, or retreat into a cozy guard post on the Hill, or take to easier jobs.”
“Where do they come from?”
The Master shrugged both shoulders. “You mean, where did they study? Who knows? I had a teacher; crazy old man, drunk half the time, brilliant when he could see straight. If you need to learn, you do it.” He waved his hand as though swatting away gnats. “It’s not the sort of thing you come here to do. It takes more than two hours a week.” The point struck home.”
― Ellen Kushner, Swordspoint

“The room was dim, as though drenched in perpetual afternoon.”
― Ellen Kushner, Swordspoint