The Empress Quotes

“7. The blind woman retained her grip on Sylva’s arm. “I’ll be quick. I want to thank you for your efforts copying out Martha’s teachings. I hope you take some of her words with you. I see many difficult choices ahead of you. You will need help in making the right decisions and Martha’s words will perhaps guide you. I see you having to seek the true path between right and wrong, between good and evil, and the choices will not always be easy, or obvious. Martha can help to guide you, if you let her.”
― Robert Reid, The Empress

“Aaron wondered if the Sofanomin had also lulled him to sleep. He could feel the faint remnants of a strange dream; weird people in odd clothing, peculiar carriages that moved although no horses pulled them”
― Robert Reid, The Empress:

“From the surrounding oak trees it seemed as if a name was whispered. ‘He is of the trees, his name is Xylon.”
― Robert Reid, The Empress:

“5. Then on a rainy day in early July the words she was copying from one of Martha the Benevolent’s ancient sayings spoke to her:
Birds fly free until they are put in a cage, but the cage does not bind their wings
When the cage is opened, the wings spread out, and the bird flies free again
So the poor are trapped in a cage by the avarice of the rich
Not in a cage made of gold, but one of hunger, despair and need
So the prisoner dreams of the wide open spaces
Wind in her hair, breathing in the freedom, beyond the four walls of her cell
Our mission is to free the prisoner, to help the poor to spread their wings
To open the door of the oppressor’s cage, to find a way to a fairer age.”
― Robert Reid, The Empress

“13. Boretar was basking in the warm June sun as the Russell family prepared to depart. The black BMW’s boot was packed with the suitcases and the roof box was filled with tennis rackets and other sports gear. The bike stand on the rear of the car was already loaded with the children’s bikes. Peter made one final check of the house to ensure that all doors and windows were locked and secure. Then he shouted to his wife Mary, “We’re ready to go, where are the children?”
― Robert Reid, The Empress

“Beware he whose reputation is burnished bright, oft times the darkness is hidden by the polished light.”
― Robert Reid, The Empress:

“Aaron anticipated the application of some kind of healing balm, but to his surprise the healer started singing a soft melodic tune. The breath from the notes fell on Aaron’s injured arm and he felt the hairs on his forearm react to the soft breath. It was only moments before the song drifted away on the wind and Wonataban’s instruction followed the last note: “Open your eyes.”
― Robert Reid, The Empress:

“9. Delicately Sylva moved the upper layers of paper and vellum away and saw, lying on the table, a small book. It was an ornately inscribed little volume with a beautifully worked golden motif; this was what had glittered and caught her attention. The book’s cover was edged in gold and in the centre of the cover was the motif: a letter O superimposed with the letter I, forming the symbol Φ, also marked out in gold.”
― Robert Reid, The Empress

“12. The common man has to fight to survive each day
But when his Lord demands his homage to pay
The common man has to fight another way
With sword or axe or spear, whatever his Lord doth say
The common man just hopes to live beyond this frightening day
And asks for the courage not to turn and run away”
― Robert Reid, The Empress

“Next morning, while her children were still asleep in their tent, Evie got up early. The acorn she had planted the day before had sprung to life and was nearly ten feet high. Sitting on the fallen log where the forest boy had sat thirty years earlier, she listened. There was no dancing partner. Maybe she was now too old, but the oak trees did sing for her.”
― Robert Reid, The Empress:

“He that can milk the cow and plough the furrow before talking wisdom with the Lord is indeed a man of special gifts”
― Robert Reid, The Empress:

“14. ‘This statue was erected in memory of Emile Razan, the Hadoka, Aralmerian freedom fighter and healer of the desert.”
― Robert Reid, The Empress

“The oak trees seemed as though they were playing instruments; here a gentle violin, over there two harps in harmony, flutes and other woodwinds joined the tree orchestra.”
― Robert Reid, The Empress:

“11. Four Eastern Aramin warriors drew their swords and moved towards Armand. Aaron started to move forward, thinking Armand would need some help. At the same moment Armand dropped down to one knee and to the tune of sixteen bow strings, sixteen feathered barbs crisscrossed the space that the Eastern Aramin warriors had advanced into. Wolfasten held up his hand and shouted to his men, “Hold your positions!” Then he nodded to Armand. “You are the conductor of this ring of arrows, I presume?”
― Robert Reid, The Empress

“Mary had typed one line to finish her dissertation – ‘So a life’s work was finally complete’. As an afterthought she had written in pencil, probably after her dissertation had been assessed: ‘What was the red stone that Samuel Fowler disposed of?”
― Robert Reid, The Empress:

“10. The stranger’s breath also came out in small white clouds. The man was clearly a lot fitter than his charges and wasn’t breathing nearly as heavily. “I have been sent – that’s all you need to know for now. As to the walls, there are secrets in even the thickest walls, young master. You just need to know where to look.”
― Robert Reid, The Empress

“Often the wise way is to seek the need, not the want. Want is often tainted by greed and is often wholly self-centred. Need by contrast is often the wish of the heart or soul for something better, something more whole.”
― Robert Reid, The Empress:

“The powerful win loyalty through fear, the humble win loyalty through love. Love’s loyalty will always last longer”
― Robert Reid, The Empress:

“1. In 1511, the solitude and peace of Martha’s sanctuary was rudely interrupted by the arrival of a new conscripted member. Tall, with long fair hair and intelligent green eyes, the woman was of striking appearance. She was in her mid-thirties and held herself with a regal demeanour. This was Sylva, the deposed Empress of the North.”
― Robert Reid, The Empress

“8. Sylva suddenly remembered one of the teachings of Martha that she had copied out. The person who listens, gains wisdom – She who just talks only expels air. Naomi had told Sylva that she should let Martha’s words guide her. Maybe she was correct. Anyway, what harm could it do to spend a few moments listening to the huntsman?”
― Robert Reid, The Empress

“4. Tufle harbour was a hubbub of noise. Carracks and caravels jostled for moorings at the harbour wall. Merchants squabbled over transport to carry their goods to Tamin, either overland, or on the ferries on the Amin River. Sailors bawled at each other to catch a rope or steady a rogue barrel of wine. At one side of the harbour the fishing busses were unloading their catches, drawing excitement from the circling sea birds. In the background to the cacophony in the harbour came the regular thud of hammering, like some strange heartbeat accompanying the harbour’s living noise. The shipyards at Tufle were only a stone’s throw away to the south.”
― Robert Reid, The Empress

“2. Alice Ereldon was in her late twenties, unmarried, and she had a reputation. She was an attractive twenty-eight-year-old. Her long brown hair hung down over her shoulders and she could conveniently sweep it over her face, partially hiding her dazzling amber eyes. The eyes were her secret weapon; she could look like a cat lining up its prey, and her prey was usually young male courtiers.”
― Robert Reid, The Empress

“3. “Well, little sister, you’ll be pleased to hear that your treacherous uprising has been quashed before it could really begin,” he said. “The heads of nine of your region’s lords decorate what remains of Slat’s walls. Your pretty little town is no more. Silson has razed it to the ground. I was tempted to add your pretty head to those of your fellow conspirators, but Aaron has persuaded me to be lenient.”
― Robert Reid, The Empress

“6. Before there was any more discussion Fowler pulled his long knife from his belt and prised open the lid of the chest. There was a gasp of astonishment from the company. Where there should have been clothes, there was the Empress Sylva, curled up in a foetal position. She cursed. So near, but still so far.”
― Robert Reid, The Empress