The Crown Tower Quotes

“The claw slipped again. It came off the edge of the stone and Hadrian felt his stomach rise as he fell. He dropped less than two stories and landed in a thick pile of straw, but it still hurt. With the wind knocked from him, he lay staring up at the sky and the wall.

Royce’s shadow crossed his face. “That was pathetic.”

“You’re enjoying this a little too much for me to think you’re honestly trying to help.”

“Trust me. I want you to improve. I want you to fall from much higher up.”
― Michael J. Sullivan, The Crown Tower

“Each killing steals a bit of humanity until a murderer is nothing more than an animal. A hunger replaces the spirit. A want for what was lost, but as with innocence, the soul can never be replaced. Joy, love, and peace flee such a vessel and in their stead blooms a desire for blood and death.”
― Michael J. Sullivan, The Crown Tower

“And why would she do that?” Hadrian shouted to the upper story.
“She told you herself. Farlan was going to have the sheriff investigate.” “Yeah, investigate you!”
“But I didn’t kill anyone. Well, not anyone in Vernes … well, not recently.”
― Michael J. Sullivan, The Crown Tower

“Royce saw to his horse’s needs; then, finding a suitable place, he unrolled his blanket and lay down.

“I take it we’re camping here, then?”

Royce said nothing, still refusing to acknowledge his existence.

“You could have said, ‘We’re going to bed down here for the rest of the night.’ No, wait, you’re right, too much. How about ‘sleeping here’? Two words. Even you could manage that, right? I mean, I know you can talk. You had plenty to say back in Arcadius’s office. Couldn’t keep the words from coming out then, but no, utterly impossible to indicate in any way that we’ll be stopping here for the night.”

Hadrian dismounted and began unloading Dancer. “How long were we on the road?” He paused to look up at the moon. “What? Five, six hours? Not a damn word. Getting chilly out, don’t you think, Hadrian? Moon looks like a fingernail, ain’t that right, Hadrian? That tree looks like a goddamn bear, don’t it, Hadrian? Nothing. By the way, in case you hadn’t noticed, I was attacked by a goshawk and a pig-riding dwarf that shot eggs at me with a sling. I was knocked from my horse and wrestled with the dwarf, the hawk, and the pig for what had to be half an hour. The dwarf kept smashing eggs in my face, and that ruddy pig pinned me down, licking them off. I only got away because the dwarf ran out of eggs. Then the hawk turned into a moth that became distracted by the light of the moon.”
Royce shifted to his side, hood up.

“Yeah, well … thank Maribor and Novron I didn’t need your help that time.”

“Didn’t care for my help too much in the stable,” Royce said.

“It speaks!”
― Michael J. Sullivan, The Crown Tower

“Where are you from, Hadrian?” “Hintindar originally—a little village south of here in Rhenydd.” “Originally? What’s that supposed to mean? You got yourself born someplace else recently?”
― Michael J. Sullivan, The Crown Tower

“My name is Hadrian Blackwater.”
“Congratulations.”
“Uh … what’s yours?”
“Leave me alone.”
― Michael J. Sullivan, The Crown Tower

“The main paused only a moment, then pulled the boy around so he could look the lad in the eye. "There's doing what's right, and there's doing what's safe. Most of the time you do what's safe because doing different will get you dead for no good reason, but there are times when doing what's safe will kill you too. Only it'll be a different kind of death. They dying will be slow, the sort that eats from the inside until breathing becomes a curse. Understand?”
― Michael J. Sullivan, The Crown Tower

“Hadrian reeked of death. It wasn’t the sort of stench others could smell or that water could wash, but it lingered on him like sweat-saturated pores after a long night of drinking.”
― Michael J. Sullivan, The Crown Tower

“Dear Maribor, you’re heavy,” Hadrian growled as he untied the rope.

“No, I’m not. You’re wounded.” Royce moved his hand and felt the blood-soaked clothes. “God, we’re bleeding like a slit throat.”

“You’re bleeding more than me,” Hadrian said.

“Oh, does that make you feel better?”

“Actually it does.”
― Michael J. Sullivan, The Crown Tower

“The thing about the old is that we never change so much as the young. We slip in degrees, adding rings like trees--a new wrinkle here, a shade less color there, but the young transform like caterpillars into butterflies. They become whole new people as if overnight.”
― Michael J. Sullivan, The Crown Tower

“You alive?” Hadrian asked.

“If I were dead, I don’t think there’d be geese.” Royce tilted his head up to catch the arrow of birds heading south. “But maybe they’re evil geese.”

“Evil geese?”

“We have no idea what goes on in the water fowl world. They might have been a gang that stole eggs or something.”

“I’m guessing you have a fever.”
― Michael J. Sullivan, The Crown Tower

“I’m not going to kill these people,” Hadrian said. “They’re nice people.”

“How do you know?”

“I talked to them.”

“You talked to me too.”

“You’re not nice people.”

“I know, I know, I have those wolf eyes that good old Sebastian warned you about. Remember him? The nice man who, along with his nice lady friend, was planning to slit your throat?”

“He was right about you at least.”
― Michael J. Sullivan, The Crown Tower

“Royce eyed Hadrian with a skeptical expression. “He’ll never manage the climb.”

“Climb?” Hadrian asked.

“The treasure room is at the top of the Crown Tower,” Arcadius explained.

Even Hadrian had heard of that. Even farmers in Hintindar knew of the Crown Tower. Supposedly it was the leftover corner of some ancient but legendary castle.

“I’m in good shape. A few stairs aren’t going to kill me.”

“The tower is heavily guarded in every way, except against a person climbing up the outside,” Royce replied, his eyes fixed on the long fang he continued to twirl.

“Isn’t that because … well, I’ve heard it’s sort of tall.”

“The tallest surviving structure built by man,” Arcadius said.

“Should I bring a lunch?”

“Considering we’ll begin after dusk and climb all night, I’d suggest a late dinner,” Royce replied.

“I was joking.”

“I wasn’t. But I only ask one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“When you fall to your death, do so quietly.”
― Michael J. Sullivan, The Crown Tower

“Once an idea is learned, once it settles in, it becomes comfortable and hard to discard, like an old hat. And trust me, I have many old hats. Some I haven't worn in years, but I still keep them. Emotion gets in the way of practicality. By virtue of time spent, even ideas become old friends, and if you can't bear to lose an old hat that you never wear, imagine how much harder it is to abandon ideas you grew up with.”
― Michael J. Sullivan, The Crown Tower

“You sound drunk.”

“I feel drunk-and I hate being drunk. Nothing works the way it’s supposed to. And it makes me act stupid … like you.”
― Michael J. Sullivan, The Crown Tower

“You realize the moment you dropped that book, we stopped being partners,” Royce said.

“Oh yeah-you’re right. Huh. I should have left you for dead after all.”

“What’s the real reason? Just before we started up, you said that you were going to kill me after the job. You were going to show me how you use that big sword.”

“I did. Weren’t you watching?”

“Yes, I was, but you were going to use it to kill me.”

“Damn it-you’re right. I forgot.” Hadrian reached up weakly to touch the pommel of his sword. “Can we do that later? I’m pretty comfortable right now.” He let his arm slap back on the grass.

“Why’d you come back? Why didn’t you just leave?”

“This really bothers you, doesn’t it?”

“Yes. Yes, it does.”
― Michael J. Sullivan, The Crown Tower

“Hadrian took the opportunity to move over and join Royce, who sat with his back to the hearth and his sight on the windows. “I’d say you’re being awfully quiet, but then I might as well follow with ‘Oh look, you’re breathing.”
― Michael J. Sullivan, The Crown Tower

“Royce is a survivor. You’ve never seen the beast, and he’s lived his whole life in its stomach, yet managed not to be digested.”
― Michael J. Sullivan, The Crown Tower

“You were right about the swords,” Royce said. “You really do need three.”

“You sound drunk.”

“I feel drunk-and I hate being drunk. Nothing works the way it’s supposed to. And it makes me act stupid … like you.”

“You’re aware I’m in the process of trying to save your life, right?”

“What part of stupid don’t you understand?”
― Michael J. Sullivan, The Crown Tower

“Royce stared at him a second. “What?”

“You heard me-you hear every stupid thing anyone ever says. That’s the most annoying thing about you. Well, not the most -it’s actually really hard to order them. The list is so ridiculously long.”
― Michael J. Sullivan, The Crown Tower

“Fear made all the difference between rational and insane and could even masquerade one for the other.”
― Michael J. Sullivan, The Crown Tower

“You realize we can’t go back to Sheridan.”

“I know.”

“Have to keep heading southwest now, and I don’t know anything about the area. We’ll probably get lost or walk into a road and a patrol.”

“Well”-Hadrian looked down at Royce’s side-“you’re bleeding again, and I think I am, too, so the good news is we’ll likely die before morning. Still, I suppose it could be worse.”

“How?”

“They could have caught us at the tavern, or we could have drowned in that river.”

“Either way we’d be dead. At this point I’m inclined to see that as better off.”

“Anything can always be worse,” Hadrian assured him.

They lay staring up at the sky and watching clouds blot out the stars. Royce heard it before he felt it. A distant patter on the blades of grass along the hillside. He turned once more to Hadrian. “I’m really starting to hate you.”
― Michael J. Sullivan, The Crown Tower

“You’re a bastard, you know that?”

“Being an orphan, I have no idea, but you might be right. Now, can we eat?”
― Michael J. Sullivan, The Crown Tower

“You don’t believe in right and wrong? Good and bad?”

“Sure, right is what’s good for me, and bad is what I don’t like, and those things are very, very wrong .”

“You really were raised by wolves, weren’t you?”

“Yes, I was.”
― Michael J. Sullivan, The Crown Tower

“Sebastian nodded his way. “This is Hadrian … er, Hadrian…” He snapped his fingers and looked for help.

“Blackwater.” He extended his hand and shook with each.

“And where do you hail from, Hadrian?” Eugene asked.

“Nowhere really.”

“A man with no home?” Samuel’s voice was nasal and a bit suspicious. Hadrian imagined him the type of man to count money handed him by a priest.

“What do you mean?” Eugene asked. “He came off the boat from Calis. We talked about it just last night.”

“Don’t be a fool, Eugene,” Sebastian said. “Do you think Calians have sandy hair and blue eyes? Calians are swarthy brutes and clever beyond measure. Never trust one, any of you.”

“What were you doing in Calis, then?” Eugene’s tone was inquisitorial and spiteful, as if Hadrian had been the one to declare him foolish.

“Working.”

“Making his fortune, I suspect,” Sebastian said, motioning toward Hadrian. “The man wears a heavy purse. You should be half as successful, Eugene.”

“All Calian copper dins, I’ll wager.” Eugene sustained his bitter tone. “If not, he’d have a fine wool robe like us.”

“He wears a fine steel sword, two of them in fact. So you might consider your words more carefully,” Sebastian said.

“Three,” Samuel added. “He keeps another in his cabin. A big one.”

“There you have it, Eugene. The man spends all his coin on steel, but by all means go right on insulting him. I’m certain Samuel and I can manage just fine without you.”
― Michael J. Sullivan, The Crown Tower

“Hadrian turned to look out at the lake. “I hear they have good fishing.”

Royce lifted his head to look at him. “You’re a very odd man.”

“You were the one talking about evil geese .”
― Michael J. Sullivan, The Crown Tower

“The two slept most of the next day, waking only when a boy delivered what he thought might be breakfast, or perhaps lunch, but turned out to be the evening meal. The steaming bowls of vegetable stew and round loaf of brown rye arrived along with a note from Arcadius asking them to visit his office after eating and to do so while being seen by as few students as possible. There was a postscript for Royce explaining it was all right if some students saw them. This was underlined twice”
― Michael J. Sullivan, The Crown Tower

“And sure, you’re as skittish as a bloodsucking mosquito, but if you planned on running, why not tell me?”
― Michael J. Sullivan, The Crown Tower

“They came to a bend in the road where it turned more west than north, and there at the turn was a squat fir tree that for the last quarter mile Hadrian had suspected might be a bear.

Coincidentally, at the same time as they passed the tree, Hadrian finally reached the conclusion that Arcadius was senile. The man was old to be sure. Older than anyone he’d ever met. Older even than his father, who at the time of his departure was the oldest man in Hintindar-though everyone said he carried his age well. The professor didn’t carry his age well at all, and old folks sometimes went batty. One didn’t even need to be that old. Hadrian knew a warlord in the Gur Em who spoke of himself as if he were another person in the room. Sometimes he got in arguments to the point of refusing to speak to himself anymore and insisted others relay messages “to that idiot.” And the warlord was nowhere near Arcadius’s age. The best that could be said for Arcadius was that he carried his insanity well. So well in fact that it took Hadrian all the way to the bear tree to conclude the professor was crazy.

He had to be. There was just no sense in asking him to pair up with Royce.”
― Michael J. Sullivan, The Crown Tower

“If it was that easy, your father would have told you himself. This-like any real truth-must be discovered on your own. Honestly, I have no idea what your father might have told you. I do know he felt you were too optimistic, too naïve, and Royce is … well … not. At our last meeting, I spoke to him of Royce. It was Danbury’s idea-his last wish-that if I ever found his wayward son, I should introduce the two of you. I think he felt Royce could provide you with that last piece of the puzzle, the one thing he failed to give you. Consider it one last chicken test if you will, one whose lesson you might not see the virtue of just yet.” The professor stroked his beard around the edges of his mouth. “I suspect you have regrets at how you left home. Guilt perhaps. This is your chance to ease that feeling. This is the door your father left open for you. Besides, you don’t need to marry Royce-just accept this single assignment.”

“What assignment?” Hadrian asked.

“I need for you to fetch me a book. It’s a journal written by a former professor here at the university.”

“He means he wants us to steal a book.” Royce had picked up what looked to be a six-inch incisor from a bear and was rolling it between his hands.

“More like borrow without permission,” Arcadius expl-ained.

“Can’t you just ask, especially since you only want to borrow it?” Hadrian said.

“I’m afraid that won’t be possible. First, it would be heretical to read this book, and second, the owner doesn’t lend his things. In fact, the owner has lived his entire life sealed off from the entire world.”

“Who are we talking about here?”

“The head of the Nyphron Church, his supreme holiness, the Patriarch Nilnev.”

Hadrian laughed. “The Patriarch? The Patriarch?”

The old man didn’t look amused. “At last count there was still just the one.”

Hadrian continued to chuckle, shaking his head as he walked in a small circle, stepping carefully to avoid islands of books. “Honestly, did you really have to go that far?”

“How do you mean?”

“Couldn’t you have demanded we steal the moon away from the stars? Why not request I help abduct the daughter of the Lord God Maribor?”

“Maribor doesn’t have a daughter,” Arcadius replied without a hint of humor.

“Well, that explains it, then.”

Royce smiled. “I’m starting to like him.”

“And I don’t trust you ,” Hadrian said.

Royce nodded approvingly. “That’s the smartest thing I’ve heard you say yet. You might be right, old man. I think I’ve already been a good influence on him.”
― Michael J. Sullivan, The Crown Tower