Quotes from Elizabeth Chadwick

You fit well into the hollow of my shoulder

I refuse to die here. I will live to see tomorrow's dawn. One pace at a time, as God wills. One and then another. And never, never look down. - Alienor in The Autumn Throne -

Although she was in a fine humour and good spirits, she needed to recuperate. She was like a fine candle without enough wax to sustain the wick.

The light was muted gray in the moment before sunrise and the birdsong was a hymn to the new day and all the glorious business of living in the moment.

all his ambitions were dust in his grave. It all came down to dust in the end.

Alienor glanced across at the girls who were still oblivious of their fate as they sat over their game of chess. They had been born to be pieces on a board, but whether pawns or queens depended on the skill with which they played the game, and how clever their opponents were.

The children either become like their parents or else they flee in the opposite direction.

There was a dark satisfaction in choosing to remain wounded, yet he had seen what happened to Henry when he cut himself off from love.

Sometimes a river runs on the surface, and sometimes it runs underground, but always it is present. Even if you do not see it, you can feel it.

To have power and contentment at the same time, that is a rare thing indeed.

Worrying about them would make no difference, unless it diminished her ability to cope.

You always take for granted what you have until it is gone. And then you realize how much value it truly held in your life.

You are my daughter," she said. "I will always stand in the storm for you.

It was the truth, but that made it no more palatable.

Just remember when temptation comes your way that a boy will drink beyond his means and a man will know when he's had enough." "Yes

You have trodden paths on which you would never have set foot were it not for my urging - " She broke off and searched his face. "But you need to know that I would follow you barefoot and in my shift and still be the proudest woman in England.

Look to the plank of wood in your own eye before you remove the mote of sawdust from mine

She had become an expert at wearing masks, so much so that sometimes it was difficult to find her true self beneath the layers:

Everyone knew that; everyone was prepared until it happened to them

embrace the small pleasures and turn them into lasting memories." 31 The Alps, Winter 1190–1 Alienor and Berenguela pushed on with their journey, stopping at nightfall to claim hospitality at monasteries, castles, and towns that were friendly.

While writing The Summer Queen, I was constantly told that Alienor was a "woman ahead of her time." But my own take is that she was a woman of her time doing her best within the boundaries of what society would permit. Any attempt to go outside those boundaries was immediately and sometimes brutally quashed, but she was nothing if not resilient. I

No use wishing to be like other folks,' the maid said shrewdly. 'You have to learn to live at peace within your own skin.

Let your deeds be your bond, not your promises and cajolery.

In reference to King John] "But his moods are fickle and he trusts no one. He wants others to love him and he tries to make them do it, but he's watching them all the time." She moved round to face him and caught the bleak misery in his expression that he hadn't been swift enough to conceal. "He surrounds himself with mercenaries and paid men who will do whatever he commands and agree with him whatever he says or does," Will said, dropping his gaze.