Megan Whalen Turner

5 Instead of Three Wishes5.1 Aunt Charlotte and the NGA Portraits 5.2 Instead of Three Wishes 5.3 Factory

So you claimed. It was a wager to that effect that landed you in prison. He picked a pen nib off the desk behind him and turned it in his hands for a moment. It is too bad for you that intelligence does not always attend gifts such as yours, and fortunate for me that it is not your intelligence I am interested in, but your skill. If you are as good as you say you are.

— Megan Whalen Turner intelligence

The magus gave me an ugly look. Youll get your share and nothing else. No ones going hungry so that you can eat.

— Megan Whalen Turner you

I dont see why not, I said as I lay down on the grass for a nap. It had dried in the sumer sun to crakling stalks that poked me in the arms and neck. Im a lot more important than anyone else here, I told the blue sky above me.Eugenides and the magus of Sounis

— Megan Whalen Turner sun

Ambiades, I realized, was the kind of person who liked to put people in a hierarchy, and he wanted me to understand that I was at the bottom of his. He was supposed to treat me politely in spite of my subservient position, and I was supposed to be grateful.

— Megan Whalen Turner people

For my part, I wanted Ambiades to understand that I considered myself a hierarchy of one. I might bow to the superior force of the magus and Pol, but wasnt going to bow to him. Neither of us moved.Eugenides

— Megan Whalen Turner art

Neither the kings reward nor Pol could stop me, but I wanted to be a kingmaker myself. I wanted to be the first one to steal Hamiathess Gift in hundreds and hundreds of years. I wanted to be famous. Only I couldnt steal the damned thing if I didnt know where if was, and only the magus could find it for me. I would stay with him until he led me to the stone, but I promised myself that someday I would stick a sharp knife into his arrogance and give it a good twist.Eugenides

— Megan Whalen Turner war

You are more beautiful, Your Majesty. The queen smiled again before I finished. But she is more kind.

— Megan Whalen Turner beautiful

So much for discretion. The smile disappeared. You could have heard a pin drop onto the stone floor as her alabaster cheeks flushed red. No one could ever accuse the queen of Attolia of being kind.Eugenides, to the queen of Attolia

— Megan Whalen Turner smile

With my good hand I reached under the braid at the base of my neck to free the thong that was tied there. It was the shorter of the two that Pol had given me on the banks of the Aracthus. One-handed, I couldnt easily get the knot undone, and several strands of my own dark hair came with the thong when I pulled it free.

— Megan Whalen Turner good

Above the queens extended palm I held Hamiathess Gift. It had hung hidden in my hair since Id braided it there after first fighting in the Sea of Olives.Eugenides and the magus of Sounis

— Megan Whalen Turner sin

You havent spent any time in the kings prison, I said. And you havent had to drink your way through every disreputable wineship in the city of Sounis. I cannot tell you how sick I have been of cheap wine and of being dirty. Of talking with my mouth half closed and chewing with it open. Of having bugs in my hair and being surrounded by people who think Archimedes was the man at the circus last year who could balance four olives on his nose.

— Megan Whalen Turner time

The magus looked around the books piled in my study. I remember that Archimedes. I think it was five olives, he said with a straight face.

— Megan Whalen Turner books

If you want to keep something safe from thieves, hide it carefully and keep a close watch over it.Eugenides

— Megan Whalen Turner you

The second night you repeated the same words over and over. I think the fever had set in by then. Do you remember what you said?

— Megan Whalen Turner words

She knew every one of them. His voice, broken and stumbling, had filled her dreams until she had wept in her sleep, crying tears for him that shed never been able to cry for her father or for herself. Oxe Harbrea Sacrus Vax Dragga she began.

— Megan Whalen Turner dreams

Its the invocation of the Great Goddess at her spring festival, he said calmly, calling her to the aid of those that need her. Those words are archaic.Attolia and Eugenides

— Megan Whalen Turner god

We invoke the Great Goddess in our hour of need for her wisdom and her mercy, Teleus said in the demotic.

— Megan Whalen Turner wisdom

Ere translates as love, a rather ruthless love, not mercy, Teleus. The Great Goddess of Eddis not known for her mercy.Teleus and Attolia The King of Attolia

— Megan Whalen Turner love

It matters, because I cant do anything more for this country, and it matters, he yelled as he threw the papers back to his desk, because I only have one hand and it isnt even the right one!Eugenides

— Megan Whalen Turner right

The queen of Attolia was only ever she. The name Attolia rarely passed his lips, as if Eugenides couldnt bear the taste of the word in his mouth.

— Megan Whalen Turner

Surely if its impossible to steal them with two hands, its no more impossible to steal them with one. Steal peace, Eugenides. Steal me some time.Eugenides and Eddis

— Megan Whalen Turner time

Not much yet, answered the Thief from the darkness. I remain fairly limited in my physical activities. He held up his right arm, and the magus started before realizing that the hand he saw had to be a wooden one, concealed by a glove.

— Megan Whalen Turner love

Another booming explosion filled the air, and the magus turned back to the window but could see only a glare reflecting on the whitewashed walls of the buildings below.

— Megan Whalen Turner win

You said I should do something. Eugenides smiled in the dark, twisting the knife of his revenge a little deeper into the magus.

— Megan Whalen Turner dark

As you were leaving, after your extremely edifying visit in the spring. You said ‘You could still do something.’ Your exact words.

— Megan Whalen Turner words

I meant talk your queen into surrendering, not destroy our navy in its own harbor! the magus shouted.Eugenides and the Magus of Sounis

— Megan Whalen Turner you

I can steal anything, Eugenides corrected him. Even with one hand. He took a step forward into the moonlight and waggled his fingers. The smile on his face made the magus feel worse, not better.Eugenides and the magus

— Megan Whalen Turner war

The moon disappeared behind a cloud. Eugenides was only a dark form against the darker water behind him. Before you make a decision, he said, I want you to know that I love you.Eugenides to Attolia

— Megan Whalen Turner love

He could tell her he loved her. He ached to shout it out loud for the gods and everyone to hear. Little good it would do. Better to trust in the moons promises than in the word of the Thief of Eddis. He was famous in three countries for his lies.Eugenides, on the queen of Attolia

— Megan Whalen Turner love

The Thief leaned close to the queen to speak almost in her ear. From shadow queen to puppet queen in one rule, he whispered. Thats very impressive. When he rules your country, and tells you he loves you, I hope you believe him.

— Megan Whalen Turner love

He anticipated her blow and leaned back. Her hand only brushed his cheek in an entirely unsatisfying manner. At least thats one lie I didnt tell you, Eugenides said.Eugenides and the queen of Attolia

— Megan Whalen Turner man

And now we wait, she said, not bothering to hide her smile of delighted anticipation as her guards conveyed the messenger out of the door.

— Megan Whalen Turner light

Hmm? Attolia focused herself on the present. Good heavens, I dont know, she said. Eddis produces such lovely threats when her Thief is concerned.The queen of Attolia and Nahuseresh

— Megan Whalen Turner love

Nahuseresh, if there is one thing a woman understands, it is the nature of gifts. They are bribes when threats do not avail. The queen shook her head. The problem with bribes, Nahuseresh, is that after your money is gone, threats still do not avail.The queen of Attolia to Nahuseresh

— Megan Whalen Turner nature

They are mice, Nahuseresh, hiding in their mouseholes, hoping their own familiar cat will come home to drive you away. At least when I hang people from castle walls, it is because they are traitors, not because they drive hard bargains. You seem willing to hang anyone who is displeasing to you. How kind of you to show my barons that if I am a hard ruler to cross, you are a worse one to serve. I must thank you for that as well as your emperors gold. They will be most mousy and well behaved for months.The queen of Attolia

— Megan Whalen Turner people

Diplomacy, said Attolia, in my own name, as the rest of her guard rose up from the grass behind their captain.The queen of Attolia and Nahuseresh

— Megan Whalen Turner

You dont understand your weakness, if you think the greater nations will protect you. We will see how much longer you rule your backwater, Your Majesty. You will soon enough discover the limits of your resources.

— Megan Whalen Turner you

Will I? I think you underestimate me still, Nahuseresh. While we are being forthright with each other, I admit I find it tedious.The queen of Attolia and Nahuseresh

— Megan Whalen Turner you

So have we all from time to time, Eddis said seriously.Eddis and Attolia, on the minister of war and Eugenides

— Megan Whalen Turner war

He looks-- Attolia hunted for the word. Defenseless came to mind, but it wasnt the one she wanted, nor was young, though he looked even younger when he was asleep.

— Megan Whalen Turner mind

Oh, yes, said Eddis. Im always willing to forgive him anything - until he wakes up.Attolia and Eddis on Eugenides.

— Megan Whalen Turner will

If it is an affliction, it is as you said: The gods know me so well they can predict my behavior. They dont control it. They could know I would love her, but they dont make me. Ive watched her for years, you know. All those times when you didnt know where I went, mostly it was to Attolia.Eugenides to Eddis, on Attolia

— Megan Whalen Turner love

Shes like a prisoner inside stone walls, and every day the walls get a little thicker, the doorways a little narrower.

— Megan Whalen Turner day

Least said, soonest mended isnt the advice for every occasion, Your Majesty, isnt the advice for every occasion.Phresine to Attolia

— Megan Whalen Turner men

Constantly, said Eddis. He lies to himself. If Eugenides talked in his sleep, hed lie then, too.

— Megan Whalen Turner self

Eddis thought for a moment. I sometimes believe his lies are truth, but I have never mistaken his truth for a lie. If he needs me to believe him, he has his own way of showing his veracity.Attolia and Eddis on Eugenides

— Megan Whalen Turner truth

You must choose now. Between the two of us we can reach a treaty without a wedding. You dont have to marry him, but if you choose to marry him, you have to believe him.

— Megan Whalen Turner believe

Attolia turned, and Eddis thought that behind her mask the queen might be afraid, and so she finished lightly. You have to believe him, because hes going to have you entire palace up in arms and your court in chaos and every member of it from the barons to the boot cleaners coming to you for his blood, and you are going to have to deal with it.

— Megan Whalen Turner light

You are My Queen, said Eugenides. She sat perfectly still, looking at him without moving as his words dropped like water into dry earth.

— Megan Whalen Turner art

Your Majesty, he asked innocently, is it true that your cousins once held you down in a water cache?

— Megan Whalen Turner sin

Is it also true that they wouldnt let you out until you agreed to repeat insults about your own family?

— Megan Whalen Turner family

The dandified Attolian who had spoke, a patron, but not a baron by any means, glanced at the queen to see if she approved, but she was looking the other way. The king shrugged his shoulders slightly and said, I could send you to ask them.

— Megan Whalen Turner light

The man laughed. It would be a long trip, Your Majesty. I would so much rather hear the answer from you.

— Megan Whalen Turner man

Oh, the trip would be much quicker than you think, said the king pleasantly. Most of my male cousins are dead.

— Megan Whalen Turner sin

The silence that had begun at the head table had spread to the edges of the hall. The Attolians smile grew uncertain.

— Megan Whalen Turner silence

I reverse myself, she said coldly, and argue for a little circumspection. She tugged at his hand, but he didnt release her. She gave up, unwilling to be seen trying to pull away.

— Megan Whalen Turner self

It was the one argument she was in no position to deny. She wanted him to be king, and he was resisting it with all his will.Attolia and Eugenides

— Megan Whalen Turner men

My mother taught me. We danced them on the rooftops of the Megaron. According to legend, the Thief and any partner the Thief chooses will be safe.

— Megan Whalen Turner art

As Attolia spun, she felt a tug at her hair and, turning back, felt another. Then she felt her carefully arranged hair slipping down her neck. Eugenides, minding the pattern with his feet and spinning the queen with one hand, had been pulling out her hairpins one by one when her back was turned. The rest of the pins loosened, and her hair dropped free. It swung out as she spun and the last of the pins bounced and slid across the marble floor.

— Megan Whalen Turner mind

The queen was several inches taller than Eugenides, and he leaned back to counter her spin. To those watching, it didnt seem possible that he could succeed, but with one hand, and no visible effort, he defied the laws of the natural world. Phresine, the queens senior attendant, watched them from behind the throne as her queen danced like a flame in the wind, and the mercurial king like the weight at the center of the earth. Faster and faster they moved, never faltering, until the music shrilled at an impossible tempo and the pattern gave way to a long spin, each dancer reaching in with one hand and out with the other, holding tight lest they fall away from the other, until the music stopped abruptly and the dance ended.

— Megan Whalen Turner art

The king paused. Your master of spies is a liar, and this time he is lying, the king said slowly, to you. Attolia frowned, then almost imperceptibly shook her head.

— Megan Whalen Turner time

If he succeeds in having me killed, you could be the next Captain of the Guard. What, then, if the king destroyed Relius? Who would replace him?

— Megan Whalen Turner you

Costis hardly breathed. The king hadnt ordered the arrest himself, though he could have, but he had directed the queen to do so, in public. Now they would see if the queen could protect her own or not.

— Megan Whalen Turner self

For a moment Costis could see, not so much what was hidden but that there were things hidden that the king did not choose to reveal. Things that were not for Costis to see. There was no understanding him, but Costis knew he would march into hell for this fathomless king, as he would for his queen. So long, he worried, as they didnt order him in opposite directions at the same time. What he would do when that happened, Costis couldnt guess.

— Megan Whalen Turner time

The king lifted a hand to her cheek and kissed her. It was not a kiss between strangers, not even a kiss between a bride and groom. It was a kiss between a man and his wife, and when it was over, the king closed his eyes and rested his forehead against the hollow of the queens shoulder, like a man seeking respite, like a man reaching home at the end of the day.

— Megan Whalen Turner man

Yet you prefer his mercy to my justice. She meant from the king. She knew where the message had come from.Attolia to Teleus

— Megan Whalen Turner justice

As the queen raged at him, he responded, first calmly, then with his own heat. Is there no one that you will see punished? the queen shouted. Are you fond of Teleus now that you preserve his life at all costs?

— Megan Whalen Turner life

Pushed too far, the queen lashed out. The king made no effort to avoid the blow. His head snapped around and his forehead struck the doorjamb. He staggered and caught himself. By the time he opened his eyes, she was at the door and then she was gone.

— Megan Whalen Turner time

Who knows but that you will get up to find that the world has inverted itself yet again? He looked around the room at the other attendants as if in warning, but spoke to Philologos. Remember, the love of kings and queens is beyond the compass of us lesser mortals.

— Megan Whalen Turner love

He looked up from the where he had been carefully smoothing the embroidered cover, and seeing his face, Costis felt the shock like a physical blow. If Attolia could look like a queen, Eugenides was like a god revealed, transformed into something wholly unfamiliar, surrounded by the cloth-of-gold bedcover like a deity on an altar, passionless and calculating.

— Megan Whalen Turner god

He had seen a temple fall once, in an earthquake. Small gaps had appeared between the stones, and these had grown until each separate stone tottered in opposition to the ones below. First the columns supporting the porches and then the walls had tumbled down. So, piece by piece, did the king hammer out the enormity of the disaster Sejanus had precipitated on his house.

— Megan Whalen Turner art

I wouldnt destroy an entire house to destroy one man. But I would destroy a man to destroy a house.Eugenides to Sejanus

— Megan Whalen Turner man

The king, the master of the fates of men, before their eyes was reduced to a man, very young himself, and in love.

— Megan Whalen Turner love

He didnt marry you to become king. He became king because he wanted to marry you.Relius, to Attolia on Eugenides

— Megan Whalen Turner you

Then come out, said the king, helping him, knowing that youll never die of a fall unless the god himself drops you.Eugenides and Costis

— Megan Whalen Turner god

I think he was delighted to see you safe, said the magus, and grieved that the next time you meet, it must be as king and king and not as friends.

— Megan Whalen Turner time

He was confident, I think, of the success over both Eddis and Attolia right up until the world heard that the Thief of Eddis had stolen the queen of Attolia and meant to marry her.

— Megan Whalen Turner success

Id suggested eating it before we left the market. Id also suggested eating it on the road. I was not so comfortable with my new authority that I could say, We eat the chicken now! but the magus had seen that I was considering it.Sophos

— Megan Whalen Turner author

Everything, it seemed, depended on gold. The magus and I had fallen easily back into our old habits. He lectured constantly, and I asked questions to my hearts delight. Where he had once been my master and I his apprentice, I had become king and he my sole advisor. Where we had once focused on natural history and philosophy, we now concentrated on administration, taxation, and the prosecution of war.

— Megan Whalen Turner philosophy

He had begun his lessons by quoting the duke of Melfi: To make war you need three things: one, money; two, money; and three, money. He went on to tell me the things I should have known already, that I would have known if I had been a more promising heir to the throne and not exclusively interested in poetry.

— Megan Whalen Turner poetry

The magus and I had talked for many long hours about this marriage of Eugenides and the queen of Attolia. The magus insisted it was Eugenidess choice and his desire as well, but it was impossible to know whose influence would prevail and if Gen would grow more like his wife, or his wife like her king.

— Megan Whalen Turner marriage

Then, as you well know, Eugenides looked me in the eye as if I were a complete stranger and said, The simplest way to end a war is to admit you have lost it.

— Megan Whalen Turner war

Would I be wrong, Sounis asked one evening as he walked with Eddis, to think that I talk to you, you talk to Gen, and Gen talks to Attolia, who talks to the magus, who talks to me?

— Megan Whalen Turner you

Eddis laughed. Not always. Sometimes, as in this case, someone approaches my Eddisian ambassador Ornon, here in Attolia, and he talks to me, I talk to you, you talk to Attolia, Attolia talks to Gen, and he talks to me.

— Megan Whalen Turner time

Oh, more than that, because after Gen talks to me, the process reverses. He goes back to Attolia, who talks to you, who go to the magus, who repeats the information to me, who gives it to Ornon, who takes it back to whoever started this particular political ball rolling in the first place.Sophos and Eddis

— Megan Whalen Turner art

Eddis nodded. Gen leaves the reins in Attolias hands. Which is not what either I or Attolia recommended, but wisely he ignored us both.

— Megan Whalen Turner men

Yes, of course, Sounis said, trying to think of some other reason besides mistrust to sleep with a knife. He heard Eugenides laugh.

— Megan Whalen Turner trust

My queen and I sleep with a matched set under our pillows, as well as handguns in pockets on the bedposts. Dont be embarrassed.

— Megan Whalen Turner sleep

Going out of my mind, said Eugenides promptly. At least I am on the verge of going out of my mind.

— Megan Whalen Turner mind

You bastard, said Sounis wearily. I dont know why I dont stab you here in this alley so I can be the annux over Sounis and Attolia. They were twisting through the narrowest of passages, with Eugenides still in the lead, turning on what seemed to be a whim from one walkway to the next.

— Megan Whalen Turner age

Well, the stabbing would be unkind, said Eugenides, but you can have the annux part with my goodwill.

— Megan Whalen Turner art

I know exactly when. I was hiding in a takima bush in the Queens Garden, watching the older son of the Baron Erondites tell Attolia that he loved her. He was trying to prose a marriage and she thought he was talking about a poem he was writing. I was laughing like a very quiet fiend, trying not to make the branches around me shake, and then, between one heartbeat and the next, and to my complete surprise, it wasnt funny anymore. He rubbed his chest, as if a remembered pain. I wanted to kill him. Once she was gone, I very nearly jumped out of the bush onto his head. Poor Dite.

— Megan Whalen Turner love

When you stop fussing, Gen had said, slipping to his knees beside her couch, I will sleep with two knives under my pillow.

— Megan Whalen Turner sin

Only when Eugenides laughed had Sounis realized her implication: If she ever turned against Eugenides, a second knife wouldnt save him.

— Megan Whalen Turner real

I seem to remember stealing your oatmeal, said the former Thief of Eddis, but it didnt have sand in it.

— Megan Whalen Turner you

Inside the case was a dueling pistol, a kings weapon, wheel-locked, chased in gold. Eddis had seen it earlier that day. When Sounis lifted it out and tipped his head over the locking mechanism, she knew he was reading the letters inscribed there: Onea realia. The queen made me.

— Megan Whalen Turner reading

You have heard the queens advice. My gift is below. Would you wait to see it until you have decided what you will do with hers?

— Megan Whalen Turner advice

There was no need, said Attolis, smiling, He couldnt offend the gods with a pointed stick.Eddis and Eugenides

— Megan Whalen Turner god

With my right hand, I reached to the other pocket. I had known as soon as I lifted the false bottom of the gun case and looked underneath what it meant. I had tried without ceasing to find some alternative to Attolias ruthless advice, and I had failed. Gens fit reassured me that iI had not failed for lack of trying. He had seen no other solution himself.

— Megan Whalen Turner advice

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