Quotes from Sharon Kay Penman

Will did not think that was fair, but he accepted that kings were often unfair and there was naught to be done about it.

As they lay entwined together afterwards, they both were sure their future was blessed, and it would never have occurred to them that Henry and Eleanor had once believed that, too.

Brother Euddogwy did not know how to respond to that, for only the Angevins would see a rebellion as an opportunity for brotherly bonding.

Sensible men were not eager to submit themselves to the Judgement of the Almighty, and a decisive battle seemed to prove that the victor had God on his side. Most people preferred not to put the Lord's Favour to such a stringent, conclusive test.

And it is not in any of our interests to have the balance of power turned on its head like this. An overly mighty French king is no improvement over an overly mighty English one.

Between the two of us, we've got a family tree rooted in Hell!

Yes, there were good memories, too, thirty-seven years of good and bad. Quarrels and reconciliations. Eight cradles and too many gravestones and Rosamund Clifford and power that rivalled Caesar's, an empire that stretched from the Scots border to the Mediterranean Sea.

time making the gesture perfunctory

Men always think God favors their cause. I am sure Ya'q?b of Aleppo never doubted it, either.

Soldiers have many vices, but vanity is not amongst them. How could it be? What man is going to worry about his hair when he might lose his head?

Get some sleep. Our troubles will still be there on the morrow

Ranulf had seen fever scramble a man's wits, but so far, Robert remained conscious and coherent. After he'd been shriven of his earthly sins, he'd made his will, provided for alms to the poor, asked to be buried at his Bristol priory, and sought promises from his liegemen that they'd be as loyal to his son as they'd been to him. He was dying, Ranulf thought, as he'd lived, competently and quietly and with dignity, and Holy God Above, what would they do without him?

War was war and soldiers were the same the world over, although killing came easier to some than others.

Statecraft and kingship were not for the faint of heart

He would never be able to emulate Richard's last gesture of defiance—gallant, glorious, and quite mad.

Barbed banter was the coin of their realm and heartfelt admissions of affection were rejected out of hand as counterfeit.

We'd become aliens in our own land, he'd warned, denied our own laws, our own language, even our yesterdays, for a conquered people are not allowed a prideful past. Worst of all, we'd be leaving our children and grandchildren a legacy of misery and loss, a future bereft of hope.

Henry nodded, then flinched when the woman began a high, keening wail. I am thankful that we got here in time, he said. I am beholden to God, and two Hugh de Plucknet for not giving up. I know we won a victory here this night. But I am beginning to see, Uncle, that victories in this war are not what they seem. For what have we truly won? The chance to do it all again on the morrow.

Women are the ones who must bear children, suffering the travails of the birthing chamber, and indeed, often dying to give life. And yet we have no say about what happens to the child afterward. It would never even have occurred to James Marshal to consult his wife ere he dared Steven to hang their son. No more than Louis cared how he grieved Petra by putting her children's future into the hands of a self-seeking lout like Waleran Beaumont. It is so unfair, Harry, so outrageously unfair.

Pummeling her pillow, she wondered if Ranulf understood about hiraeth. It translated as longing, but meant so much more, the love of the Welsh for their homeland, a sense of belonging, pride in their past, why they did not thrive when uprooted, like plants set down in foreign soil. If Ranulf wanted them to live in England, she would offer no protest, for she would have followed him to Hell if need be. But it would be a life in exile.

Stephen reached out to her then, entwined her fingers in his. It was not difficult for me. You must understand that. For me, it was an easy choice, for it was the only choice. I know, she said again, and coming into his arms she clung tightly, resting her cheek against his chest as she sought to comprehend the ultimate irony, she who had no irony at all in her soul, that the qualities she most loved in Stephen were the very ones that were crippling his kingship.

She'd been torn, naked and defenseless, from a cocoon of privilege and power, with no skills for survival in this harsh new world.

The Welsh do make the worst enemies. They do not play by your rules, they win when they're not supposed to, and they do not know when they're beaten.

in turn, had agreed to end the continuing