The Forgotten Kingdom Quotes

“But that has nothing to do with gods! It is only about power! And why must it come to a war between this way or that? "Because me are fools." "But you chose a life among men, at a monastery," Angharad pointed out. Brother Thomas did not smile. "And now I am a hermit, living in the woods." "A culdee," she corrected him. "Why did you leave?" "I fell out with the priest there, and I wished to be closer to God. That is all you need know." "You're god or mine?" Angharad asked. Brother Thomas looked amused. "Are they not one and the same?”
― Signe Pike, The Forgotten Kingdom

“Yes, women and warriors were more alike than one might expect. After all, the entirety of a woman's life was made of blood. Our wombs seized and shed each month. Our babies were born of such agony and gore men could not comprehend. Both women and warriors were students of pain.”
― Signe Pike, The Forgotten Kingdom

“It was true. No good ever came from impetuous acts of vengeance or spite. Wise women were patient.”
― Signe Pike, The Forgotten Kingdom

“Stories make no promises of truth- yet through the study of folklore, history, archaeology, and anthropology, I've come to believe that beneath every legend lies a kernel of truth.”
― Signe Pike, The Forgotten Kingdom

“Given that I write about a time that's so archaeologically elusive, with so slight a body of written texts, I can't argue that some refer to my novels as fantasy. But I would ask readers to consider this: If a Christian character in a historical novel believes in the power of prayer and imagines they see a result, the work is still deemed historical fiction. If a pre-Christian character does the same, the work is deemed historical fantasy.”
― Signe Pike, The Forgotten Kingdom

“If this was the last battle I should ever fight, let it be with the last of the Dragon Warriors. Let it be with my Army of Stags. If this was the last time I would punish with my sword, let me say yes.
Yes to freedom.
Yes to honor.
Yes to death.
Theirs or my own.”
― Signe Pike, The Forgotten Kingdom

“Yes, Angharad. The yoke of destiny is heavy- but it does not ask more than we are able to give. Follow it or shrink from it. The choice is yours. But if you refuse it out of fear, you will never become the woman you are truly meant to be.”
― Signe Pike, The Forgotten Kingdom

“Who would we become, he might ask, if we banished the choosing of one's own devotion? Freedom in thought and devotion had always been our way. And we chose our gods, surely the gods chose us, too.”
― Signe Pike, The Forgotten Kingdom

“Time is not a masterful healer, but at least it's persistent.”
― Signe Pike, The Forgotten Kingdom

“We do not need Christians shadowing our hut doors, telling us our wrongs and what to believe, as if theirs is the only true way.”
― Signe Pike, The Forgotten Kingdom