Цитаты из книги Royal Bastards

"And I know our customs might seem conservative or strange to you. But you have to understand, they hold real meaning to me. It`s not just about my vows, or about securing the best possible suitor. It`s... it`s something I just believe in. For myself." "How?" "Think of it this way." She sighed. "When you get married, and you kiss your husband on your wedding day, it`ll be just another kiss for you. It will probably be the thousandth time you`ve kissed him. The only thing different, the only thing special, is the day that you`re doing it on." She looked away, and I could tell this was something she`d thought about a lot. "But for me, it`ll be different. When I kiss my husband for the first time, it`ll be the culmination of years and years of yearning. It`ll be a moment I have dreamed about and wanted so badly for my whole life, something I have craved but never experienced, not untill then, not until him. And he`ll know it and I`ll know it, and we`ll share that knowledge, and it will make that moment between us so much more special and meaningful. It`ll be the greatest gift we can offer each other." She gave a guilty smile. "I`m human, just like you. I want to be kissed, to be touched, to be held. But that`s why I keep my vow of purity. For that moment."

"But it`s your father I don`t understand. Aren`t the Princess and the mage his rulers? Doesn`t he bow before them?" He finally turned to look at me, his eyes shining bright in the moonlight. "Why did he do it? Why would he want to kill the family he swore to serve?" "It`s... it`s complicated," I said. "Your father, he`s the Chief of Clans, right? Are there other Chiefs who oppose him? Who want to be the Chief themselves?" "Of course. The Conclave this year was brutal." "Conclave?" Zell arched an eyebrow, like he really expected me to know this. "Every three years, all the Chieftains of all the Clans gather at Zhal Korso for a great Conclave. After four days of games and feasting and drinking, the Chieftains who would wish to lead present their arguments in the Hall of Bones. Then all the zhindain, the clanless women, vote on who they believe will be best. And that man is the Chief of Clans." "Oh," I said, even though I didn`t really understand at all. "So the Chief changes, then? Often?" "Of course." "Well... that`s not how we do it," I said. "The Volaris family rules us. They have for one hundred and twenty years, since the Great War. When the King... Right now, that`s Leopord Volaris... When he dies, his oldest child, Lyriana, takes over. And then she`ll be the Queen until she dies." "But that makes no sense." Zell stared at me skeptically, like I was pulling some kind of trick on him. "What if your King`s child is a fool? What if she leads your people to ruin?"

"I don`t drink wine," Zell said. He reached into his cloak and took out a curved ram`s horn, nearly the length of my forearm, with a tin plug at the base. He flicked the pug open, pressed the horn to his lips, and took a swig. "What is that?" I asked. "We call it stone milk," Zell said. "You couldn`t handle it." "Why? Because I`m a woman?" Zell blinked, genuinely surprised. "What? No. Our women drink it more than we do. You couldn`t handle it because you`re a soft, smooth-skinned, southern-born castle rat." "Oh," I said, and for some reason, that actually was better.