The Lost Queen Quotes

“We may not always have the choice we would like. But we always have a choice.”
― Signe Pike, The Lost Queen

“Languoreth, the earth is very old. Tragedies will occur on nearly every patch of land, given enough time. But given enough time, miracles will unfold on every hillock and valley, too.”
― Signe Pike, The Lost Queen

“When you have lived a life as long as mine, you come to understand that all gods, and all stories, are different names for the same thing. Beneath it all, there is one god with many faces, but always one god. There is one story with many variations, but always the same ending.”
― Signe Pike, The Lost Queen

“Do not deny yourself what little happiness you might find. For there are bound to be days in every lifetime dark enough to drown what little light we might gather.”
― Signe Pike, The Lost Queen

“I suppose it could have been worse.”
Her eyes flicked to Morcant. “That’s what we say, isn’t it? That it could have been worse. But truly it is always bad enough, just as it is.”
“You’re right.” I followed her gaze. “It is bad enough, just as it is.”
― Signe Pike, The Lost Queen

“Do not think the weight of the world is not felt by me, Languoreth. It is only that I have learnt there is little we can do but trust,” she said. “We may fashion such things as might give us opportunities. For healing. For wheat to grow tall. For visions of what is yet to come. For love.” She lifted her blue eyes to mine. “But there is always a measure beyond our control. The wind and the weather. The stray pierce of an arrow. Sickness. Death. A wise woman realizes this. She keeps her heart as full in times of pain as she does in times of good fortune. This is because her heart is full with trust.”
― Signe Pike, The Lost Queen

“I have been a drop in the air. I have been a shining star. I have been a word in a book. —“Cad Goddeu” (“The Battle of the Trees”), translated by Robert Graves, The White Goddess”
― Signe Pike, The Lost Queen

“Life is not only filled with pain and longing of the things that cannot be.”
― Signe Pike, The Lost Queen

“They were the watchers in the wood, carriers of hopes and dreams. Their hollows were the keepers of secrets. Every knot and whorl marked the memory of a story so ancient, the echoes faded eons ago. And yet those stories lived on, kept safe in the circles of their rings. This is why we come to their groves, why we sing to them. Because the oaks help us to remember: who we are, who we were, where we once came from.”
― Signe Pike, The Lost Queen

“When he returned, he sat beside me but did not touch me, spoke to me kindly but revealed nothing. He was a man of secrets who did not see me. I needed no talisman here to achieve invisibility.”
― Signe Pike, The Lost Queen

“Never had my husband’s eyes been left so unguarded, so naked to me. A tear slipped down my cheek. I did love him. Perhaps it was not the smoldering, desperate sort of love I felt for Maelgwn, but wasn’t this love, this feeling of warmth overcoming me? Perhaps love was made up of more than just passion. Rhydderch offered me kindness and constancy. Loyalty. His heart. And passion was a cruel master—I had learned as much so far. I reached for his hand.”
― Signe Pike, The Lost Queen

“She was a Pictish queen, my mother,” Elufed continued. “This is why I was married to Tutgual, of course. The Pictish people honor the mother’s line, not the father’s. Rhydderch and Morcant, my daughter Gwenfron—they may be Britons, but they will always be Picts because they are mine.” She sought to catch my eyes. “My mother and father sought peace with Strathclyde and so I became their holy token. Just as you are ours.” I”
― Signe Pike, The Lost Queen

“VisitScotland now offers tours of many of the locations featured in this novel and in Adam Ardrey’s books.”
― Signe Pike, The Lost Queen

“Where did a mother end and her child begin?”
― Signe Pike, The Lost Queen