54 Quotes by Lesley Livingston

I’m not sure if you just screwed with history or if history just screwed with you.

Be brave, gladiatrix, he said, And be wary. Bright things beget treachery. Beautiful things breed envy. Once you win Caesar’s love, you’ll earn his enemies’ hate.

If you slow me down,” she growled, “I’ll hack your foot off with a sharp stone.” “I won’t slow you down,” I said. “So long as you keep your big, flat feet out of my way.” Pale blue eyes blinked at me for a moment. Then the Varini grinned – an expression utterly devoid of mirth – and said, “Run.

It’s war. Don’t leave anything behind for your enemy to use. Scorch the earth, kill the cattle, foul the water.

We were castoffs and slaves, orphans and unwanteds and used-to-be princesses... and we were mighty.

Rome only exists because of slaves. That’s how it functions. We are its muscles, its brains, and most of all its secrets. You are now a part of that world. You are what you are, no matter what you once were. But there is power in such a position. Understand that. And learn to use it.

These were stone-cold men trained to kill – not with heart and fire and fury, not with the joy of glorious battle, but as a single, unthinking whole, like drones in a beehive.

You are what you are, no matter what you once were.

Once inside, I stirred the banked coals of the brazier to sullen life. It did nothing to ease the chill that gripped my bones. Not only had my father as good as severed the sword-hand from my arm, he’d cut the heart out of my body. And then given it to the brother of the boy I loved. My father had betrayed me not once but twice.