The Archer's Tale Quotes
"A cold morning wind blew from the sea bringing a sour salt smell and a spitting rain that would inevitably sap the power of the bowstrings if it did not let up."
"What it is," Jake said, "is a waste of goddamn time."
"Maybe she’ll put a bolt through your tongue," Will Skeat growled, "and do us all a favor."
"She doesn’t load that crossbow herself," Sam said, unmoved by Skeat’s surliness.
"I was close enough, my lord, to hear a woman singing," he said.
"His men joined him and they heaved against the timber until the rotted wood split like straw."
"Heat the wretches up, the town’s priests had said, and the townsfolk liked that jest."
"The defenders would crouch behind their crenellations and so deny his men an opportunity to aim."
"You have what all women have. You can use that."
"There is something you can use to buy the armor, my dear," he said winningly. "You have what all women have. You can use that."
"We do not hold three-year-old children to ransom," the Earl said firmly.
"The house," the clerk sounded bored, "belonged to the Count’s father-in-law. A dealer in wine, I believe."
"But being penniless," the Earl said, "I doubt he provokes fondness. More of a burden, wouldn’t you think?"
"Then you’ll have the widow’s house. And she is to be treated honorably, you hear me? Honorably!"
"I am the highest-born man on this field and it is I who decides the fate of prisoners."
"Everything that is precious to me was stolen. Stolen by you!"
"You are all thieves! How can you protect me? There is a place in hell for thieves like you and it is just like England."
"But God knows you made it, and I know you are doing nothing about it."
"You pray to St. Renan," he said, "and I shall pray to St. Guinefort. We shall see which saint is the stronger."
"Bastards are taking their time," Jake said nervously.
"You will find it easy enough to listen," he said.
"Because they’re daft," was Sam’s curt judgement.
"Your honor?" Jeanette laughed. "What honor do you have that could be fouled?"
"I am sorry, but at least you have your armor and sword. Hide them well."
"What kind of man is the King?" she asked Thomas.
"I’ll have to go to Scoresby, let him decide what you are."
"God’s peace be on you," Thomas said to one group.
"Because Charles of Blois has kidnapped my child!"
"He says that he rescued you, madame, is that true?"
"They left him in the abbey for too long and when the time came to put him in the vault he was rotted and swollen."
"Goddamn," he said aloud. He felt conspicuously foolish in his tattered robe.
"You got us into La Roche-Derrien, but that little place is nothing compared to Caen."
"And the wheel of fate had once again spun Jeanette high."
"God’s teeth, boy, do you expect me to save you from Sir Simon’s vengeance?"
"Get us into Caen, Thomas, and I’ll forgive you a score of murders."
"That’s what they say in Guyenne, that the children of priests are the devil’s whelps."
"She was like a moth, he thought, flying to the brightest candle in the room."
"I think we shall try and feed him instead. Help me raise him."
"Vile things. The only mercy of children is that they grow up."
"You’ll call me a damned Jew, a Christ murderer."
"The urine betrays all. If it smells rank, or if it is dark, if it tastes of vinegar or should it be cloudy then it is time for vigorous doctoring."
"He cannot have God as his father who does not have the Church as his mother."
"The beast is said to possess both horns and tusks, which seems extravagant."
"A chevauchée, child, is when you march in a great line through your enemy’s country and you burn, destroy and break everything in your path."
"But good, pale, sweet-smelling urine like this is the worst news of all."
"The Counts of Astarac, young man, were Cathars. Southern France was infested by that damned heresy."
"The fight will be terrible, for the soul of the world is at stake, and they will use any weapon, even a woman."
"God, in His infinite wisdom, made the fishes and the whales on the fifth day, and on the sixth he made the beasts of the land."
"You don’t believe it? Why do you think we keep the scriptures from the ignorant? They contain all sorts of prophecies, young man, and each of them given direct to us by God."
"The lance of St. George, I had a contract with the Harlequin. He paid me a little money, and the balance was kept by a monk in the abbey here."
"The English marched east, ever further from the sea, searching for a place to cross the Seine, but every bridge was broken or else was guarded by a fortress."
"We’ll need every arrow we’ve got for a battle."
"You can't take the word of such a man. He may or may not be a good doctor, but the Jews have ever been Christ's enemy."
"You would know? It reached out across the sea to steal the lance from your father, and you say it reached across France to kill Sir Guillaume’s wife."
"I want nothing of you, Thomas, but God wants a lot from you."
"I’m not in the habit of giving advice to the Almighty."
"Men have sought it for a thousand years, and no one has found it."
"So you would have me wander the earth looking for a peasant’s dish?"
"I am not Thomas of Hookton, but Thomas Vexille. I’m not English, but some half-breed Frenchman."
"The world is rotting. The Church is corrupt and kings are weak."
"God is on your side then no man can beat you."
"Some poor boy needed them more than I did. I’ll get a French pair."
"You shouldn’t be here, my lord," Will Skeat said.
"Don’t kill all the men-at-arms, Will," the Earl went on. "Leave some for us poor swordsmen."
"Don’t waste your goddamn arrows," Will Skeat called.
"There will be meat tonight," she told the dog.
"Hold!" John Armstrong, whose men were to the left of Skeat’s band, shouted.
"Back, lads, back!" Will Skeat motioned the archers.
"They’re falling short!" the Earl of Northampton shouted exultantly.
"You’ll be all right, lad." A quiet voice spoke behind him.
"I am an English archer," Thomas said harshly, "not a knight of the round table."
"Tell me, Thomas," he said gently, "was your father the eldest or a younger son?"
"He’s lost his damned lance." Thomas said.
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