“
He turned his head and caught her with his eyes. She froze, locked by the intensity of his stare. His eyes were stark and cold, the concentrated green of pale jade. Outlined in smudged black kohl, those eyes focused on her, unblinking through the feathery strands of his jet black hair, and it was like being watched through a cage by a complacent and calculating cat.
Discomfort welled in her, thick and black as an oil spring. Who was this guy and what was his royal problem? Her gaze flicked briefly to the small metal loop that hugged one corner of his bottom lip.
He blinked once, then slowly lifted one hand and crooked a beckoning finger at her. Isobel hesitated but then as though spellbound to obey, she found herself leaning in.
“What are you staring at?” he whispered.
”
”
Kelly Creagh (Nevermore (Nevermore, #1))
“
My life flies away like a dream:
Why should I stay behind?
”
”
Julia Golding (Cat-O'nine Tails (Cat Royal, #4))
“
From his soft fur, golden and brown,
Goes out so sweet a scent, one night
I might have been embalmed in it
By giving him one little pet.
He is my household's guardian soul;
He judges, he presides, inspires
All matters in his royal realm;
Might he be fairy? or a god?
When my eyes, to this cat I love
Drawn as by a magnet's force,
Turn tamely back upon that appeal,
And when I look within myself,
I notice with astonishment
The fire of his opal eyes,
Clear beacons glowing, living jewels,
Taking my measure, steadily.
”
”
Charles Baudelaire (Les Fleurs du Mal)
“
Who said anything about sleeping? I’m talking about sex. Good sex. Lots of it.”
That puts a flush on her pretty cheeks and she laughs. “I don’t want to have sex with you.”
I pat her hand. “Now you’re just being silly. The cat-and-mouse game can be tantalizing, but it’s not necessary.” My voice drops to a whisper. “I’m a sure thing.
”
”
Emma Chase (Royally Matched (Royally, #2))
“
Sorry Johnny."
"Sorry for what "
"For shouting at you. It's just that when I think about the future I keep panicking. It's like falling from the top of the stairs in the dark not knowing where I'll end up."
He put his arm around my shoulders. "I understand. Life is precarious for most of us but more so for you. What you forget is what most of your friends see in you."
"What's that "
"The ability to beat the odds..."
"And fall on my feet "
He nodded.
"I just hope that lasts."
"It will Catkin it will. It wouldn't dare fail you.
”
”
Julia Golding (Den of Thieves (Cat Royal, #3))
“
Insanity,” said Hatta, still mesmerized by his royal purple hair. “That always seemed the strangest word because it actually means out of sanity. Shouldn’t someone who’s in sanity be very sane? In means out. Curious.”
“And they think we’re the mad ones,” laughed the smiling Cheshire Cat.
”
”
Daniel Coleman
“
Eventually, decades later, when the king was dying, the queen gently ushered everybody out into the corridor, closed the door to the royal bedchamber, and got into bed with her husband. She started singing to him. They laughed. He was short of breath, but he could still laugh. They asked each other, Is this silly? Is this...pretentious? But they both knew that everything there was to say had been said already, over and over, across the years. And so the king, relieved, released, free to be silly, asked her to sing him a song from his childhood. He didn't need to be regal anymore, he didn't need to seem commanding or dignified, not with her. They were, in their way, dying together, and they both knew it. It wasn't happening only to him. So she started singing. They shared one last laugh - they agreed that the cat had a better voice than she did. Still, she sang him out of the world.
”
”
Michael Cunningham (A Wild Swan: And Other Tales)
“
Clarence was with me as concerned the revolution, but in a modified way. His idea was a republic, without privileged orders, but with a hereditary royal family at the head of it instead of an elective chief magistrate. He believed that no nation that had ever known the joy of worshiping a royal family could ever be robbed of it and not fade away and die of melancholy. I urged that kings were dangerous. He said, then have cats. He was sure that a royal family of cats would answer every purpose. They would be as useful as any other royal family, they would know as much, they would have the same virtues and the same treacheries, the same disposition to get up shindies with other royal cats, they would be laughably vain and absurd and never know it, they would be wholly inexpensive; finally, they would have as sound a divine right as any other royal house, and “Tom VII, or Tom XI, or Tom XIV by the grace of God King,” would sound as well as it would when applied to the ordinary royal tomcat with tights on.
”
”
Mark Twain (A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court)
“
I'm grotesque."
"You are pink and rather hairless. Like a baby, and people love babies." Actually, she looked more like the hairless cat his aunt Ludmilla had favoured more than any of her children, but that seemed an impolite thing to say to a lady.
Ehri did not wish to be charmed. "Must you make a joke of everything?"
"I must. By royal mandate and the curse of my own disposition. I find life quite unbearable without laughter.
”
”
Leigh Bardugo (Rule of Wolves (King of Scars, #2))
“
In the background there thudded always the hidden metronome of the Casino, ticking up its little treasure of one-per-cents with each spin of a wheel and each turn of a card – a pulsing fat-cat with a zero for a heart.
”
”
Ian Fleming (Casino Royale (James Bond, #1))
“
In fact, he moved with a lithe grace that put her in mind of a cat. A black and rather feral cat, quite evidently up to no good.
”
”
Vanessa Kelly (Confessions of a Royal Bridegroom (The Renegade Royals, #2))
“
How's your Latin?' asked Charlie.
'Non-existent.'
'Well, you might find the next class a bit tough then.
”
”
Julia Golding (Cat Among the Pigeons (Cat Royal, #2))
“
Life's book by Stephen King haunted by our darkest fears!
”
”
Royal McGraw (The Misadventures of Grumpy Cat and Pokey! (Grumpy Cat And Pokey Vol. 2))
“
Louis found me in the rear parlor, the one more distant from the noises of the tourists in the Rue Royale, and with its windows open to the courtyard below. I was in fact looking out the window, looking for the cat again, though I didn't tell myself so, and observing how our bougainvillea had all but covered the high walls that enclosed us and kept us safe from the rest of the world. The wisteria was also fierce in its growth, even reaching out from the brick walls to the railing of the rear balcony and finding its way up to the roof.
I could never quite take for granted the lush flowers of New Orleans.
Indeed, they filled me with happiness whenever I stopped to really look at them and surrender to their fragrance, as though I still had the right to do so, as though I still were part of nature, as though I were still a mortal man.
”
”
Anne Rice (Merrick (The Vampire Chronicles, #7))
“
She came upon a bankside of lavender crocuses. The sun was on them for the moment, and they were opened flat, great five-pointed, seven-pointed lilac stars, with burning centres, burning with a strange lavender flame, as she had seen some metal burn lilac-flamed in the laboratory of the hospital at Islington. All down and oak-dry bankside they burned their great exposed stars. And she felt like going down on her knees and bending her forehead to the earth in an oriental submission, they were so royal, so lovely, so supreme. She came again to them in the morning, when the sky was grey, and they were closed, sharp clubs, wonderfully fragile on their stems of sap, among leaves and old grass and wild periwinkle. They had wonderful dark stripes running up their cheeks, the crocuses, like the clear proud stripes on a badger’s face, or on some proud cat. She took a handful of the sappy, shut, striped flames. In her room they opened into a grand bowl of lilac fire.
”
”
D.H. Lawrence (The Lost Girl)
“
I’m two seconds from dropping to my knees and begging her, but she edges to the door. “You know there’s a study group, right? I can give you the number for—”
“I’m already in it,” I mutter.
“Oh. Well, then there’s not much else I can do for you. Good luck on the makeup test. Baby.”
She darts out the door, leaving me staring after her in frustration. Unbelievable. Every girl at this college would cut her frickin’ arm off to help me out. But this one? Runs away like I just asked her to murder a cat so we could sacrifice it to Satan.
And now I’m right back to where I was before Hannah-not-with-an-M gave me that faintest flicker of hope.
Royally screwed.
”
”
Elle Kennedy (The Deal (Off-Campus, #1))
“
Sometimes I think about Cardan when I am lying there. I think about what it must have been like to grow up as an honoured member of the royal family, powerful and unloved. Fed on cat milk and neglect, To be arbitrarily beaten by the brother you most resembled and who most seemed to care for you.
Imagine all those courtiers bowing to you, allowing you to hiss and slap at them. But no matter how many of them you humiliated or hurt, you would always know someone had found them worthy of love, when no one had ever found you worthy.
...
I would be stupid to think I knew Cardan's heart from his story. But I wonder at it.
I wonder what would have happened if I'd admitted he wasn't out of my system.
”
”
Holly Black (The Wicked King (The Folk of the Air, #2))
“
You are the bravest girl I've ever met, Miss Royal. I admire your courage.'
I met her gaze and saw that she was not looking at me as the scruffly commoner, but as the heroine of my own take. As her equal.
'Please call me Cat,' I said. 'All my friends do.'
She smiled. 'Yes, I'd like that. And call me Lizzie.
”
”
Julia Golding (The Diamond of Drury Lane (Cat Royal, #1))
“
Catharine Victoria Santoro di Valleria.” Cat blinked. “Why are you ‘full naming’ me?
”
”
Marianne Knightly (Catharine & Edward (Royals of Valleria, #6))
“
He couldn't bring himself to kill me. That shocked me more than his threats. I didn't know what to say to him.
”
”
Julia Golding (Den of Thieves (Cat Royal, #3))
“
I'll say one thing for you, there's never a dull moment when you're around, wot with everyone who meets you wantin' to kill you. - Billy
”
”
Julia Golding (Cat Among the Pigeons (Cat Royal, #2))
“
A gentleman would've risen when a lady entered the room.' I paused by the seat but did not sit down.
'Well, when one comes in I'll make sure I stir myself.'
Ouch! I walked into that one. A point to him.
”
”
Julia Golding (Den of Thieves (Cat Royal, #3))
“
Reader, you are set to embark on an adventure about one hidden treasure, two bare-knuckle boxers, three enemies and four hundred and eighty-three rioters. It is told by an ignorant and prejudiced author - me.
”
”
Julia Golding (The Diamond of Drury Lane (Cat Royal, #1))
“
I had to laugh. I'd set out on this journey home planning to push Billy past the point of endurance, playing on his misplaced feelings of ownership towards me, and five hundred yards from his door I had succeeded.
”
”
Julia Golding (Cat's Cradle (Cat Royal, #6))
“
Julius explained that the palace rooms where they stood were called Wunderkammers, or wonder rooms. Souvenirs of nature, of travels across continents and seas; jewels and skulls. A show of wealth, intellect, power.
The first room had rose-colored glass walls, with rubies and garnets and bloodred drapes of damask. Bowls of blush quartz; semiprecious stone roses running the spectrum of red down to pink, a hard, glittering garden. The vaulted ceiling, a feature of all the ten rooms Julius and Cymbeline visited, was a trompe l'oeil of a rosy sky at down, golden light edging the morning clouds.
The next room was of sapphire and sea and sky; lapis lazuli, turquoise and gold and silver. A silver mermaid lounged on the edge of a lapis lazuli bowl fashioned in the shape of an ocean. Venus stood aloft on the waves draped in pearls. There were gold fish and diamond fish and faceted sterling silver starfish. Silvered mirrors edged in silvered mirror. There were opals and aquamarines and tanzanite and amethyst. Seaweed bloomed in shades of blue-green marble. The ceiling was a dome of endless, pale blue.
A jungle room of mica and marble followed, with its rain forest of cats made from tiger's-eye, yellow topaz birds, tortoiseshell giraffes with stubby horns of spun gold. Carved clouds of smoky quartz hovered over a herd of obsidian and ivory zebras. Javelinas of spotted pony hide charged tiny, life-sized dik-diks with velvet hides, and dazzling diamond antlers mingled with miniature stuffed sable minks. Agate columns painted a medley of dark greens were strung with faceted ropes of green gold.
A room of ivory: bone, teeth, skulls, and velvet.
A room crowded with columns all sheathed in mirrors, reflecting world maps and globes and atlases inlaid with silver, platinum, and white gold; the rubies and diamonds that were sometimes set to mark the location of a city or a town of conquest resembled blood and tears.
A room dominated by a fireplace large enough to hold several people, upholstered in velvets and silks the colors of flame. Snakes of gold with orange sapphire and yellow topaz eyes coiled around the room's columns.
Statues of smiling black men in turbans offering trays of every gem imaginable-emerald, sapphire, ruby, topaz, diamond-stood at the entrance to a room upholstered in pistachio velvet, accented with malachite, called the Green Vault. Peridot wood nymphs attended to a Diana carved from a single pure crystal of quartz studded with tiny tourmalines. Jade tables, and jade lanterns. The royal jewels, blinding in their sparkling excess: crowns, tiaras, coronets, diadems, heavy ceremonial necklaces, rings, and bracelets that could span a forearm, surrounding the world's largest and most perfect green diamond.
Above it all was a night sky of painted stars, with inlaid cut crystal set in a serious of constellations.
”
”
Whitney Otto (Eight Girls Taking Pictures (Thorndike Press Large Print Basic Series))
“
Stars flicker above, points of bright ice in a dark river. I pull a heavy sheepskin around my legs and stretch my feet toward the fire. Despite the cold, Liam plays his flute, the sound whistling through the night. Soon my eyes are heavy, my head nodding.I open my eyes at the deep melodious baritone of Salvius’s voice telling a tale. Liam’s flute is silent now. I have heard Salvius tell many tales on market days; he is known for his memory of wandering minstrels and mummers who visit us at Whitsunday and through Midsummer. Salvius is a mockingbird: he can give a fair charade of the rhythmic tones of any wandering bard or any noble of the Royal Court.In this darkness, his eyes catch the light like a cat in the night.
”
”
Ned Hayes (Sinful Folk)
“
At eight o'clock in the morning, Tom arrived at Ravenel House, dressed in a beautiful dark suit of clothes with a royal-blue four-in-hand necktie. As he entered the breakfast room and bowed, he was so obviously pleased with the entire situation that even West was moved to reluctant amusement.
“I expected you to look like the cat who swallowed a canary,” West said, standing to shake Tom’s hand, “but you look more like a cat who swallowed another entire cat.
”
”
Lisa Kleypas (Chasing Cassandra (The Ravenels, #6))
“
There was nothing wrong with a solitary life. In fact, even if you didn’t intrinsically want a solitary life, there were still times when it was fucking bliss to spend long hours in your own company. Essential. Bonus points if the cat was upstairs in his own room. However, the feeling of absolute faith that when the cracks started to appear, someone else would be crouching at your side, helping to bail out the water, and that you could do the same for them— Pretty indescribable.
”
”
Lucy Parker (Battle Royal (Palace Insiders #1))
“
Last night I watched the television news. I shouldn't do that, it's bad for the digestion. There's another war somewhere, what they call a minor one, though of course it isn't minor for anyone who happens to get caught in it. They have a generic look to them, these wars - the men in camouflage gear with scarves over their mouths and noses, the drifts of smoke, the gutted buildings, the broken, weeping civilians. Endless mothers, carrying limp children, their faces splotched with blood; endless bewildered old men. They cart the young men off and murder them, intending to forestall revenge, as the Greeks did at Troy. Hitler's excuse too for killing Jewish babies, as I recall.
The wars break out and die down, but then there's a flareup elsewhere. Houses cracked open like eggs, their contents torched or stolen or stomped vindictively underfoot; refugees strafed from airplanes. In a million cellars the bewildered royal family faces the firing squad; the gems sewn into their corsets will not save them. Herod's troops patrol a thousand streets; just next door, Napoleon makes off with the silverware. In the wake of the invasion, any invasion, the ditches fill up with raped women. To be fair, raped men as well. Raped children, raped dogs and cats. Things can get out of control.
”
”
Margaret Atwood (The Blind Assassin)
“
Sarah sits up and reaches over, plucking a string on my guitar. It’s propped against the nightstand on her side of the bed. “So . . . do you actually know how to play this thing?”
“I do.”
She lies down on her side, arm bent, resting her head in her hand, regarding me curiously. “You mean like, ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,’ the ‘ABC’s,’ and such?”
I roll my eyes. “You do realize that’s the same song, don’t you?”
Her nose scrunches as she thinks about it, and her lips move as she silently sings the tunes in her head. It’s fucking adorable. Then she covers her face and laughs out loud.
“Oh my God, I’m an imbecile!”
“You shouldn’t be so hard on yourself, but if you say so.”
She narrows her eyes. “Bully.” Then she sticks out her tongue.
Big mistake.
Because it’s soft and pink and very wet . . . and it makes me want to suck on it. And then that makes me think of other pink, soft, and wet places on her sweet-smelling body . . . and then I’m hard.
Painfully, achingly hard.
Thank God for thick bedcovers. If this innocent, blushing bird realized there was a hot, hard, raging boner in her bed, mere inches away from her, she would either pass out from all the blood rushing to her cheeks or hit the ceiling in shock—clinging to it by her fingernails like a petrified cat over water.
“Well, you learn something new every day.” She chuckles. “But you really know how to play the guitar?”
“You sound doubtful.”
She shrugs. “A lot has been written about you, but I’ve never once heard that you play an instrument.”
I lean in close and whisper, “It’s a secret. I’m good at a lot of things that no one knows about.”
Her eyes roll again. “Let me guess—you’re fantastic in bed . . . but everybody knows that.” Then she makes like she’s playing the drums and does the sound effects for the punch-line rim shot. “Ba dumb ba, chhhh.”
And I laugh hard—almost as hard as my cock is.
“Shy, clever, a naughty sense of humor, and a total nutter. That’s a damn strange combo, Titebottum.”
“Wait till you get to know me—I’m definitely one of a kind.”
The funny thing is, I’m starting to think that’s absolutely true.
I rub my hands together, then gesture to the guitar. “Anyway, pass it here. And name a musician. Any musician.”
“Umm . . . Ed Sheeran.”
I shake my head. “All the girls love Ed Sheeran.”
“He’s a great singer. And he has the whole ginger thing going for him,” she teases. “If you were born a prince with red hair? Women everywhere would adore you.”
“Women everywhere already adore me.”
“If you were a ginger prince, there’d be more.”
“All right, hush now smartarse-bottum. And listen.”
Then I play “Thinking Out Loud.” About halfway through, I glance over at Sarah. She has the most beautiful smile, and I think something to myself that I’ve never thought in all my twenty-five years: this is how it feels to be Ed Sheeran.
”
”
Emma Chase (Royally Matched (Royally, #2))
“
It was not imprisonment, supposedly, but simply that all Manchus needed special protection because they were related to the royal house and so were part of officialdom. Actually it was a luxurious imprisonment, for this was the Chinese way of conquering enemies. When the Manchu invasion of 1644 was successful in a military sense-and almost any people could invade China successfully, it seemed, in a military sense-China did not resist. The people were apparently passive, mildly curious, and even courteous to their conquerors. The real struggle came afterwards, but so subtly that the conquerors never knew they were being conquered. The technique of victory was that as soon as the invaders laid down their arms the philosophical but intensely practical Chinese persuaded them to move into palaces and begin to enjoy themselves. The more the new rulers ate and drink, the better pleased the Chinese were, and if they also learned to enjoy gambling and opium and many wives, so much the better. One would have thought that the Chinese were delighted to be invaded and conquered. On the pretext of increased comfort, the Manchus were persuaded to live in especially pleasant part of any city, and to be protected by special guards against rebellious citizens. This meant they were segregated and since they were encouraged to do no work, the actual and tedious details of the government were assumed performed by the chinese, ostensibly for them. The result of this life of idleness and luxury was that the Manchus generally became a fit while the Chinese administered the government. The Manchus were like pet cats and the Chinese kept them so, knowing that when the degeneration was complete, a Chinese revolutionary would overthrow the rotten structure. Revolution was in the Chinese tradition and every dynasty was overthrown, if not by foreign invasion, then by native revolution
”
”
Pearl S. Buck (My Several Worlds)
“
The wars break out and die down, but then there’s a flareup elsewhere. Houses cracked open like eggs, their contents torched or stolen or stomped vindictively underfoot; refugees strafed from airplanes. In a million cellars the bewildered royal family faces the firing squad; the gems sewn into their corsets will not save them. Herod’s troops patrol a thousand streets; just next door, Napoleon makes off with the silverware. In the wake of the invasion, any invasion, the ditches fill up with raped women. To be fair, raped men as well. Raped children, raped dogs and cats. Things can get out of control. But not here; not in this gentle, tedious backwater; not in Port Ticonderoga, despite a druggie or two in the parks, despite the occasional break-in, despite the occasional body found floating around in the eddies. We hunker down here, drinking our bedtime drinks, nibbling our bedtime snacks, peering at the world as if through a secret window, and when we’ve had enough of it we turn it off. So much for the twentieth century, we say, as we make our way upstairs. But there’s a far-off roaring, like a tidal wave racing inshore. Here comes the twentyfirst century, sweeping overhead like a spaceship filled with ruthless lizard-eyed aliens or a metal pterodactyl. Sooner or later it will sniff us out, it will tear the roofs off our flimsy little burrows with its iron claws, and then we will be just as naked and shivering and starving and diseased and hopeless as the rest. Excuse this digression. At my age you indulge in these apocalyptic visions. You say, The end of the world is at hand. You lie to yourself – I’m glad I won’t be around to see it – when in fact you’d like nothing better, as long as you can watch it through the little secret window, as long as you won’t be involved. But why bother about the end of the world? It’s the end of the world every day, for someone. Time rises and rises, and when it reaches the level of your eyes you drown. What happened next? For a moment I’ve lost the thread, it’s hard for me to remember, but then I do. It was the war, of course. We weren’t prepared for it, but at the same time we knew we’d been there before. It was the same chill, the chill that rolled in like a fog, the chill into which I was born.
”
”
Margaret Atwood (The Blind Assassin)
“
You are the Great Cat, the avenger of the Gods, and the judge of Words, and the president of the sovereign chiefs and the governor of the sacred Circle. You are indeed... the Great Cat." (Inscription on the Royal Tombs at Thebes)
”
”
Morgana Best (A Motive for Murder (Misty Sales #1))
“
cases and stretched
”
”
Julia Golding (The Middle Passage (Cat Royal Adventures, #5.5))
“
years an anomaly. Not only is the terrain of Buck more suited to hound-hunting, but also hounds are more suited to the larger game that is usually the prey of mounted hunters. A lively pack of hounds, boiling and baying, is a fine accompaniment for a royal hunt. The cat, when it is employed, is usually
”
”
Robin Hobb (Fool's Errand (Tawny Man, #1))
“
Dev was his name, and he was secretary to the prince Siddhartha, the man who would become Buddha. He had watched with envy as the young prince lived the life of luxury in his fine palace. He had watched with scorn as the royal one then gave it all up to live like a hermit in the forest. Then, as the Buddha gained his enlightenment under the Bo tree and began preaching the Way for all people to escape suffering, Dev grew respectful of him and stopped watching. He joined the assembly of the World Honoured One, and sought out his special favour. And when this was not granted, when he was told that all men were equal and no one should hold court over another, his arrogance had bested him and he left the company of monks forever. To find his own truth, he said, but the only truth he found was in the arms of a woman – a beautiful but scheming witch named Rashila.
”
”
Frank Kusy (Ginger the Buddha Cat (Ginger #2))
Julia Golding (The Middle Passage (Cat Royal Adventures, #5.5))
“
Jackson’s best friend, Howell, was black, and when Jackson told him about Binky having a cat called Nigger, he roared with laughter. Howell dated from Jackson’s army days—they had started out as squaddies together. “Bleck men,” Howell laughed, doing a disturbing impression of an old white lady, disturbing given that Howell was six-foot-six and the blackest black man Jackson had ever met. After his discharge, Howell had returned to his native Birmingham and was currently working as a doorman for a large hotel, a job that required him to wear a ridiculous pantomime costume—a royal blue frock coat covered in gold braid and, even more ridiculously, a top hat. Howell had such an imposing presence that rather than losing dignity in this flunky’s outfit he actually made it seem strangely distinguished.
”
”
Kate Atkinson (Case Histories (Jackson Brodie #1))
“
We round the frangipani, coming face-to-face with two peacocks---one male, with magnificent iridescent plumage sparkling in royal blues, greens, and golden browns, not to mention the circular eyespots, his crown a crest of feathers resembling a helmet. The female, although beautiful, has drabber plumage and a short tail.
Garrance beams as the large birds greet her like dogs. "Meet Yin and Yang," she says, and Juju rolls onto his back. "These two are the only ones who tolerate Juju and vice versa."
"Maybe because they don't call him names," I say with a laugh, and Garrance joins me.
”
”
Samantha Verant (The Spice Master at Bistro Exotique)
“
As daybreak arrived, the cats started looking.
”
”
Kurt Zimmerman (How a Mouse Saved the Royal Cat)
“
نمیدانم کجای راه را اشتباه رفتیم که گربه ها پشت میزهای سلطنتی می نشینند و با غذاهای رنگین عکس میگیرند و مردم را دعوت به قناعت میکنند
-------------------------------------------------
I do not know where we went wrong that cats sit behind royal tables and take pictures with colorful food and invite people to contentment
”
”
شهاب شاه عالمی Shahab Shahalami (مریض Ill)
“
Cameron began wooing Trevor. It wasn’t easy. It was a big deal for Trevor to plunge from the Royal Shakespeare Company into the wicked world of commercial theatre, especially with such a bonkers-sounding project. Musicals were not accepted by the subsidized sector like they are today when no National Theatre season seems complete without one. Another big issue was moonlighting from the RSC. Today the prospect of a bumper box office would have the RSC jumping through hoops to develop a project like “Practical Cats,” but in 1980 it was unthinkable. It took Cats to be a smash before the RSC governors considered that a musical of Les Misérables was the sort of enterprise to nurture under their roof.
”
”
Andrew Lloyd Webber (Unmasked: A Memoir)
“
I lay down among the the rocks, and they were gold and crimson like a royal tomb. I saw wonderous shapes rise from the fumes, twisting and curling like cats about me. They breathed upon me and filled me with fire. I saw myself leading armies. I saw myself killing men, and in my heart I felt a fierce glee. I saw myself ridding the world of all that was worthless.
”
”
Storm Constantine (Sea Dragon Heir (The Chronicles of Magravandias, #1))
“
I shake my head as I go back inside the apartment. I need to get my hands on this book and figure out what Lawson did. Kill a cat? Maim a dog? Throw his grandmother off a truck and run her over?
”
”
Ella Goode (Claiming His Queen (Royal, #1))
“
...bring her back from the brink of death and all she cares about is that stupid cat.
”
”
Angel Lawson (Dukes of Madness (Royals of Forsyth University, #5))
“
To make matters worse, the Starlight Captain, Quentin, got to them before we could and he offered them a teasing bow and a smile which made me want to knock his teeth out. Which I intended to do as soon as the second half started. The girls both laughed at something he said, smiling like he was the funniest fucking dipshit they’d ever met.
Roxy’s dark eyes moved to mine and I felt a lurch right in the centre of my gut for a half a second as it seemed almost like she was directing that smile at me. She’d made a dress out of an oversized Pitball shirt which skimmed her thighs and made her look like she'd just crawled out of my bed and pulled it on. The idea of that excited me way more than it should have but as she turned to whisper something to her sister, I saw the name printed across the back of her shirt wasn’t Acrux, it was Grus.
Of course it is. Stop thinking with your dick and get your head back in the game!
The Starlight Captain noticed us approaching and made himself scarce but I noted the lingering looks the twins gave him as he jogged away.
“Enjoying the game, sweetheart?” Caleb asked as we drew close enough to speak with them. I didn’t miss the way Roxy’s eyes trailed over him and the fact that there was considerably less hatred in her gaze when she looked his way than what she directed at me. I guessed he hadn’t half drowned her but it still pissed me off.
“We are,” she admitted with a wide smile. “Isn’t Geraldine amazing?”
“Yeah she’s the fucking cat's pyjamas,” I growled, wishing I could actually aim an insult the Cerberus’s way but that girl was single handedly saving our asses from total annihilation at this point so I couldn’t even pretend to do it. Without her we would have been royally screwed.
“Maybe she should be the Captain,” Gwendalina suggested with a taunting smile.
“Maybe she should,” Lance agreed loudly and I scowled at my friend. There was no way he’d offer me any loyalty when it came to Pitball. If I wasn’t the best then he’d say it to my face. I just wished he’d hold his opinion back in front of the Vegas.
“I just need a quick top up,” Caleb said and Roxy didn’t even fucking flinch at that. She sighed like him biting her was a goddamn inconvenience and pulled her long hair over her shoulder to offer him access to her neck.
“You’d better hurry up,” she added. “Only two minutes of half time left.”
I glanced around at the board to confirm what she’d said and by the time I looked back, Caleb had her in his arms and his teeth were in her throat.
She didn’t even have the decency to look horrified, her fingers twisting into his hair as he held her in place. His fucking hand was on her thigh, skimming the hem of that shirt and for a moment I actually wanted to rip his arm off.
I shook my head and turned away from them. This anger with Milton was spilling into everything I did today. I just couldn’t believe that he’d done such a thing to me. He was one of my most loyal followers, I’d never even sensed an inch of defiance in him let alone a betrayal of this magnitude and I couldn’t get it out of my head. If I couldn’t trust someone as devoted as him then who the hell could I trust?
My gaze skimmed over the box above the twins where my parents were sitting but I didn’t let it linger there. If I saw the look of frustration and disappointment I knew would be on my father’s face then I really would lose the plot.
Caleb released Roxy, leaning close to whisper something in her ear which made her fucking laugh while I ground my teeth. He spared a moment to heal the bite on her neck and we turned back to the pitch.
“I hope you do better this half!” Gwen called after us.
“You can’t do any worse, right?” Roxy added and I clenched my fists to stop myself from rounding on them.
(Darius POV)
”
”
Caroline Peckham (Ruthless Fae (Zodiac Academy, #2))
“
It was not imprisonment, supposedly, but simply that all Manchus needed special protection because they were related to the royal house and so were part of officialdom. Actually it was a luxurious imprisonment, for this was the Chinese way of conquering enemies. When the Manchu invasion of 1644 was successful in a military sense-and almost any people could invade China successfully, it seemed, in a military sense-China did not resist. The people were apparently passive, mildly curious, and even courteous to their conquerors. The real struggle came afterwards, but so subtly that the conquerors never knew they were being conquered. The technique of victory was that as soon as the invaders laid down their arms the philosophical but intensely practical Chinese persuaded them to move into palaces and begin to enjoy themselves. The more the new rulers ate and drink, the better pleased the Chinese were, and if they also learned to enjoy gambling and opium and many wives, so much the better. One would have thought that the Chinese were delighted to be invaded and conquered. On the pretext of increased comfort, the men shoes were persuaded to live in especially pleasant part of any city, and to be protected by special guards against rebellious citizens. This meant they were segregated and since they were encouraged to do no work, the actual and tedious details of the government were assumed performed by the chinese, ostensibly for them. The result of this life of idleness and luxury was that the Manchus generally became a fit while the Chinese administered the government. The Manchus were like pet cats and the Chinese kept them so, knowing that when the degeneration was complete, a Chinese revolutionary would overthrow the rotten structure. Revolution was in the Chinese tradition and every dynasty was overthrown, if not by foreign invasion, then by native revolution.
”
”
Pearl S. Buck (My Several Worlds)
“
Her Royal Highness, the cursed royal bastard, is four cubits high, shaped like a barrel of beer, has a maw which stretches from ear to ear and is full of dagger-like teeth, has red eyes and a red mop of hair! Her paws, with claws like a wild cat's, hang down to the ground! I'm surprised we've yet to send her likeness to friendly courts! The princess, plague choke her, is already fourteen. Time to think of giving her hand to a prince in marriage!
”
”
Andrzej Sapkowski (The Last Wish (The Witcher, #0.5))
“
Oh, he should be home by now,” she worried, and then, “What will you do about him?”
I thought of myself, so many years ago, and of Verity, and even of young Dutiful. I thought of all the ways that duty had shaped us and bound us and held back our hearts. Truly, the boy should be home by now, getting sleep the better to serve his master on the morrow. He had no business showing interest in a girl. I could take a firm hand with him and remind him of his duty. He would listen to me. But Hap was not the son of a king, nor even a royal bastard. Hap could be free. I leaned back in my chair. It rocked and I absently stroked the cat. “Nothing,” I said after a moment. “I think I’ll do nothing. I think I’ll let him be a boy, and I think I’ll let him fall in love with a girl, and stay out later than he should, and have a pounding headache tomorrow when his master chides him for being late.” I turned to look at her. The firelight danced over her kindly face. “I think I’ll let the boy be a boy for a time.”
“Do you think that’s wise?” she asked, but she smiled as she said it.
“No.” I shook my head slowly. “I think it’s foolish and wonderful.
”
”
Robin Hobb (Fool's Errand (Tawny Man, #1))
“
Sang-hee blinked at us. “The Royals of Fairy came to save me?” “We're here to help your people,” I said. “Are you all right, Sang-hee?” “Yes. Thank you, Your Majesty. Uh . . .” “Yes?” “Is my cat okay? That bastard didn't hurt Seulgi, did he?” Medea started laughing and pulled the Kumiho into a hug. “No. Seulgi is fine. Ha-eun has him.” “Thank the Goddess,” Sang-hee declared. I grinned at that. I liked a woman who had her priorities in order.
”
”
Amy Sumida (Pearls of Wisdom: A Why Choose Fantasy Romance (The Twilight Court Book 17))
“
While the cat's away, the mice will eat in the lounge without plates or cutlery.
”
”
Juno Dawson (The Shadow Cabinet (Her Majesty's Royal Coven, #2))
“
I'll have you know that Dumpling, Rice Cake, and Sticky Bun are the noble offspring of the great Bright Mane," Sairu said, "descended in a long line of royal canines bred from the deified lineage of the Lordly Sun's own watchdogs."
The cat gave her a look. "Really?"
"Well, the come from the same kennels as the emperor's dogs, so that's close enough."
"Useless yapping things, hardly what you'd call proper dogs. What's the point of them?"
"They ward off devils."
"Yet I'm still here. What else?"
"They're fluffy."
"I'm fluffy," said the cat.
"You're a monster," said Sairu.
”
”
Anne Elisabeth Stengl (Golden Daughter (Tales of Goldstone Wood, #7))
“
Just call me your Royal Highn-ass.
”
”
H.D. Carlton (Haunting Adeline (Cat and Mouse, #1))
“
Are your bites infectious? A stray cat bit a servant at the Agam estate when I was young. She lost her whole arm."
Quinton's face rises, something like indignation flushing over him. "I am a prince of Massa'eve, not a stray cat, Kitterny.
”
”
Alex Lidell (Dragons' Bride (Her Royal Dragon Pack #2))
“
What kind of diabolical God can create cats with dreams of satanic mice and simultaneously by some royal exequatur and placet give mice dreams of like cats? No, He Who smites without sword and scourges without rod I shall always remember, my friend, with an ingenuity worthy of a better cause—and forever revile! God, I tell you, is the center of the pathetic fallacy.
”
”
Alexander Theroux (Darconville's Cat)
“
I would like to hear a description of the…the princess.” Velerad leapt up from his chair. “The princess looks like a striga!” he yelled. “Like the most strigish striga I have heard of! Her Royal Highness, the cursed royal bastard, is four cubits high, shaped like a barrel of beer, has a maw which stretches from ear to ear and is full of dagger-like teeth, has red eyes and a red mop of hair! Her paws, with claws like a wild cat's, hang down to the ground! I’m surprised we've yet to send her likeness to friendly courts! The princess, plague choke her, is already fourteen. Time to think of giving her hand to a prince in marriage!” “Hold
”
”
Andrzej Sapkowski (The Last Wish (The Witcher 0.5))
“
and a cat who apparently wished him dead,
”
”
Julia London (The Princess Plan (A Royal Wedding #1))
“
Golden Egg Pets · Golden Dragon · Golden Griffin · Golden Unicorn Diamond Egg Pets · Diamond Dragon · Diamond Griffin · Diamond Unicorn Common Pets · Bandicoot (Aussie Egg) · Buffalo (Cracked Egg or Pet Egg) · Cat (Starter Egg, Cracked Egg, or Pet Egg) · Chicken (Farm Egg) · Dog (Starter Egg, Cracked Egg, or Pet Egg) · Otter (Cracked Egg or Pet Egg) · Robin (Christmas Egg) Uncommon Pets · Black Panther (Jungle Egg) · Blue Dog (Blue Egg) · Capybara (Jungle Egg) · Chocolate Labrador (Cracked Egg, Pet Egg, or Royal Egg) · Dingo (Aussie Egg) · Drake (Farm Egg) · Fennec Fox (Cracked Egg, Pet Egg, or Royal Egg) · Meerkat (Safari Egg) · Pink Cat (Pink Egg) · Puma (Cracked Egg, Pet Egg, or Royal Egg) · Silly Duck (Farm Egg) · Snow Cat (Cracked Egg, Pet Egg, or Royal Egg) · Wild Boar (Safari Egg) · Wolf (Christmas Egg) Rare Pets · Australian Kelpie (Aussie Egg) · Beaver (Cracked Egg, Pet Egg, or Royal Egg) · Brown Bear (Jungle Egg) · Bunny (Cracked Egg, Pet Egg, or Royal Egg) · Cow (Farm Egg) · Elephant (Safari Egg) · Elf Shrew (Christmas Event: 23,000 Gingerbread) · Emu (Aussie Egg) · Hyena (Safari Egg) · Pig (Farm Egg) · Polar Bear (Christmas Egg) · Rabbit (Cracked Egg, Pet Egg, or Royal Egg) · Rat (Lunar New Year Event 2020 - Rat Box - 14 in 15 Chance) · Reindeer (Christmas Egg) · Rhino (Jungle Egg) · Snow Puma (Cracked Egg, Pet Egg, or Royal Egg) · Swan (Christmas Egg) Ultra-Rare Pets · Arctic Fox (Christmas Egg) · Bee (Coffee Shop - Honey: 199 Robux - 35 in 40 Chance) · Crocodile (Jungle Egg) · Elf Hedgehog (Christmas Event: eighty,500 Gingerbread) · Flamingo (Safari Egg) · Frog (Aussie Egg) · Horse (Pet Shop: 300 Robux) · Koala (Aussie Egg) · Lion (Safari Egg) · Llama (Farm Egg) · Panda (Lunar New Year Event - Game Pass: 249 Robux) · Penguin (Throw a Golden Goldfish (225 Robux) to a Penguin on the Ice Cream Parlor) · Platypus (Jungle Egg) · Red Panda (Cracked Egg, Pet Egg, or Royal Egg) · Santa Dog (Christmas Event: 250 Robux) · Shiba Inu (Cracked Egg, Pet Egg, or Royal Egg) · Sloth (Pet Shop: 199 Robux) · Turkey (Farm Egg) · Zombie Buffalo (Halloween Event) Legendary Pets · Arctic Reindeer (Christmas Egg) · Bat Dragon (Halloween Event 2019: a hundred and eighty,000 Candies) · Crow (Farm Egg) · Dragon (Cracked Egg, Pet Egg, or Royal Egg) · Evil Unicorn (Halloween Event 2019: 108,000 Candies) · Frost Dragon (Christmas Event 2019: 1,000 Robux) · Giraffe (Safari Egg) · Golden Penguin (Throw a Golden Goldfish (225 Robux) to a Penguin at the Ice Cream Parlor) · Golden Rat (Lunar New Year Event 2020 - Rat Box - 1 in 15 Chance) · Griffin (Gamepass or six hundred Robux) · Kangaroo (Aussie Egg) · King Bee (Coffee Shop - Honey: 199 Robux - 4 in 40 Chance) · Owl (Farm Egg) · Parrot (Jungle Egg) · Queen Bee (Coffee Shop - Honey: 199 Robux - 1 in 40 Chance) · Shadow Dragon (Halloween Event 2019: 1,000 Robux) · Turtle (Aussie Egg) · Unicorn (Cracked Egg, Pet Egg, or Royal Egg)
”
”
Bozz Kalaop (Roblox Adopt me, Arsenal, Boxing, Simulator full codes - Tips And Tricks)
“
Cat on the wall Christianity is something that the Bible never approves. Either it is black or white, no question of being grey
Righteous or wicked (Psalm 1)
Light or Darkness (I John 1 : 5, 6)
Narrow or Broadway (Matthew 7: 13, 14)
Belief or Unbelief (John 3: 18)
Pure or defiled (Titus 1: 15)
Obedient or disobedient (John 14: 23, 24)
Lord or Baal (I Kings 18: 21)
Wise or fool (Proverbs 1: 7)
Hot or Cold (Revelation 3: 16)
Eternal life or eternal punishment (Matthew 25: 46)
Today is the day of Salvation. Decide your path now!
”
”
Royal Raj S
“
The Holy Roman Emperor once sent Henry III three leopards as a gift, and he kept them in the Tower of London, where they lived with an elephant, polar bear and a presumably rather nervous porcupine (this was the first such royal menagerie to be open to the public, the entrance fee being a dog or cat, for the lion to eat).
”
”
Ed West (The Realm: The True history behind Game of Thrones)
“
Cat sat in a rocking recliner, her foot pushing the chair into motion steadily. She looked up when he came down the stairs but didn’t say anything. Harper felt like a royal ass when he saw her tear-stained cheeks and the tissues clutched in her hand. Cat was a strong woman. It took a lot to see her cry. The fact that she was crying now made him feel like the lowest kind of scum. Crossing the room, he knelt down in front of her, stopping the chair. “I’m sorry I didn’t respond to you. I’m kind of in shock. When I fell in love with you I just always thought it was forever. Even though my lifestyle didn’t create stability, you did, Cat. You were always my stability. Walking away was the hardest thing I ever had to do. But I did it in the hopes that I could make myself better. It’s not like a damned driving test where if I mark a wrong answer I get to take the test over again. I’m a trained killer. If I had screwed up in our house you or the kids were going to pay for it, possibly with your lives. I couldn’t chance that.” Fresh tears rolled down her face and her expression crumpled. “I know. I knew that was why you left. Or at least that was what I had hoped. But it’s been eighteen damn months—a year and a half—with you not letting us have any contact. If you had talked to us, or wrote…just something to let us know that we weren’t all alone.” Cat sobbed and it broke his heart. Pulling her into his arms then down onto his lap, he held her as she let all her emotions out. Tears choked his own throat as he cradled her to him. “If I had called I would not have been able to stay away.” And that was the gist of his angst. God, yes, he wanted to be with them, but he was willing to give up his own happiness if it kept them safe. Cat’s arms wrapped around his neck and she looked up at him. “I have always had more faith in you than you have yourself. Always.” Nuzzling his face into her damp hair, he nodded. “I know that. Without a doubt. And whether you were with me or not your faith kept me going.” Relaxing into his hold, Cat’s tears began to slow. “I love you, Cat.” Her arms tightened around his neck till he thought something was going to pop. “I love you too, damn it.
”
”
J.M. Madden (Embattled SEAL (Lost and Found #4))
“
Then came Dani’s turn to read a question. “‘Who’s in charge in the bedroom?’”
Much to the group’s amusement, none of them got a match, and Sean didn’t think they would either as he held up his notepad. “‘I am, since I carry the big stick.’”
Emma read hers with a remarkably straight face. “‘Sean, because he has a magic penis.’”
“Wow. Um…so Sean and Emma have a point,” Dani said as the men nearly pissed themselves laughing.
No way in hell was he leaving that unpunished, and he winked at Emma when Kevin read the next question. “‘Where’s the kinkiest place you’ve had sex?’”
The fact that Joe and Keri had done the dirty deed on the back of his ATV led to a few questions about the logistics of that, but then it was Emma’s turn. “‘In bed, because Sean has no imagination.’”
Roger threw an embarrassed wince his way, but his cousins weren’t shy about laughing their asses off.
Sean just shrugged and held up his notepad. “In the car in the mall parking lot. Emma’s lying because she doesn’t want anybody to know being watched turns her on.”
Her jaw dropped, but she recovered quickly and gave him a sweet smile that didn’t jibe with the “you are so going to get it” look in her eyes.
Beth asked the next question. “‘Women, where does your man secretly dream of having sex?’”
Keri knew Joe wanted to have sex in the reportedly very haunted Stanley Hotel, from King’s The Shining. Dani claimed Roger wanted to do the deed on a Caribbean beach, but he said that was her fantasy and that his was to have sex in an igloo. No amount of heckling would get him to say why. And when it came to Kevin, even Sean knew he dreamed of getting laid on the pitcher’s mound at Fenway Park.
Then, God help him, it was Emma’s turn to show her answer. “‘In a Burger King bathroom.’”
The room felt silent until Dani said, “Ew. Really?”
“No, not really,” Sean growled.
“Really,” Emma said over him. “He knows that’s the only way he can slip me a whopper.”
As the room erupted in laughter, Sean knew humor was the only way they’d get through the evening with their secret intact, but he didn’t find that one very funny, himself.
It was the final answer that really did him in, though. The question: “If your sex had a motto, what would it be?”
Joe and Keri’s was, not surprisingly, Don’t wake the baby Kevin and Beth wrote, Better than chocolate cake, whatever that was supposed to mean. Dani wrote, Gets better with time, like fine wine, and Roger wrote, Like cheese, the older you get, the better it is, which led to a powwow about whether or not to give them a point. They probably would have gotten it if they weren’t tied with Keri and Joe, who took competitive to a cutthroat level.
When they all looked at Sean, he groaned and turned his paper around. They’d lost any chance of winning way back, but he was already dreading what the smart-ass he wasn’t really engaged to had written down. “‘She’s the boss.’”
The look Emma gave him as she slowly turned the notepad around gave him advance warning she was about to lay down the royal flush in this little game they’d been playing.
“Size really doesn’t matter,” she said in what sounded to him like a really loud voice.
Before he could say anything—and he had no idea what was going to come out of his mouth, but he had to say something--Cat appeared at the top of the stairs.
“I hate to break up the party,” she said, “but it’s getting late, so we’re calling it a night.”
Maybe Cat was, but Sean was just getting started.
”
”
Shannon Stacey (Yours to Keep (Kowalski Family, #3))
“
P.S. By the by, Frank and I almost got hanged today and were robbed by a charming gang of thieves so there is no need for you to worry that I will feel homesick for old London.
P.P.S. I hope you agree my first letter is not devoid of interest and worth a guinea.
”
”
Julia Golding (Den of Thieves (Cat Royal, #3))
“
He seems to think I'm about five, the way he's treating me.'
Lizzie took the lantern and placed in on a table. 'I don't suppose you had anything to do with that, didn't you?'
'Oh no,' I said, eyes round and innocent.
”
”
Julia Golding (Den of Thieves (Cat Royal, #3))
“
And where am I to wait for this much-to-be-anticipated tête-à-tête?' I wondered if I was managing to convey sarcasm speaking in a foreign language. It was the only power left to me.
”
”
Julia Golding (Den of Thieves (Cat Royal, #3))
“
With two such perfect parents, someone's got to set an example to her of how not to behave. - Cat
”
”
Julia Golding (Cat-O'nine Tails (Cat Royal, #4))
“
All persons on my vessel of war being guilty of profane oaths, cursings or other scandalous actions are in good company with the author.
”
”
Julia Golding (Cat-O'nine Tails (Cat Royal, #4))
“
Oh yes, we Londoners pretend to be all civilized and cultured, a beacon to the world, but it's all lies. We're rotten.
”
”
Julia Golding (Cat Among the Pigeons (Cat Royal, #2))
“
And Lizzie! Still here? Not run off after your handsome rebel lord yet?... What's wrong with you, girl? At your age, I would've thrown off the parental shackles and hopped on the first boat to America to see him.'
'Perhaps I'm rebelling against the parental shackles by not doing as you say, Mama.
”
”
Julia Golding (Cat Among the Pigeons (Cat Royal, #2))
“
We don't allow females.'
'I know. I don't want to put my foot across your poxy threshold… I'll try not to be too obviously female. I'll keep the swoonings to a minimum and promise I'll have only one fit of the vapours.'
The footman curled his lip. 'You - the vapours! Ha! Brats like you can't afford that luxury.
”
”
Julia Golding (Cat Among the Pigeons (Cat Royal, #2))
“
Tell me, do you get the ape in you from your mother's or your father's side of the family? - Cat
”
”
Julia Golding (Cat Among the Pigeons (Cat Royal, #2))
“
Clothead!... Fool!' (You see that I was brought up in the politest society and know how to introduce myself to a gentleman in the most agreeable way.)
”
”
Julia Golding (The Diamond of Drury Lane (Cat Royal, #1))
“
Anyone would think to hear you two that I enjoyed it!'
'And didn't you?' probed Johnny with a pained smile as the cab went into a pothole. 'Didn't you enjoy outwitting him?'
'Just a little, a very little,' I admitted, unable to keep a huge grin from my face.
”
”
Julia Golding (The Diamond of Drury Lane (Cat Royal, #1))
“
Yesterday, my life at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, came to the end of its run.
”
”
Julia Golding (Den of Thieves (Cat Royal, #3))
“
I don't think I'll be getting married. - Cat
”
”
Julia Golding (Cat's Cradle (Cat Royal, #6))
“
You're really living, not drifting as so many of us do. How I would like to live an adventure, not just act in one! - Georgie, to Cat
”
”
Julia Golding (Black Heart of Jamaica (Cat Royal, #5))
“
You're far too young for a governess,' mused Lizzie as she stirred cream into her tea.
'And the strain of behaving would probably kill you,' muttered Frank.
”
”
Julia Golding (Black Heart of Jamaica (Cat Royal, #5))
“
Fine necklace. - Billy
Isn't it? Very apt… In fact, it matches my tattoo. - Cat
Your what?
”
”
Julia Golding (Black Heart of Jamaica (Cat Royal, #5))
“
When I heard you were home, I decided to break the record for the fastest Cambridge-to-London journey. Wagered my next term's allowance on the outcome. - Frank
”
”
Julia Golding (Cat's Cradle (Cat Royal, #6))
“
Tossing the chalk thoughtfully for a moment, I decided what to do. I wrote 'The cat sat on the mat' once in copperplate English, then translated into Latin, then French and finally, for good measure, in Italian.
”
”
Julia Golding (Cat's Cradle (Cat Royal, #6))
“
I can't believe you just did that,' Charlie marvelled. 'You've broken more college rules in five minutes than I've managed in a month.
”
”
Julia Golding (Cat's Cradle (Cat Royal, #6))
“
There are many stories about seagoing cats. My research indicates that cats were domesticated about 9,500 years ago. I really don’t know anyone who was around at that time to verify this, but I also don’t have any reason to doubt this little bit of trivia. It is documented that the Egyptians who kept cats around to bring the good luck, also used them to catch thicket birds that lived in the tall grass along the riverbanks. I guess that these small birds were a treat and a welcome substitute for the usual river fish that the sailors would catch with hooks fashioned from bones. In time it was the Phoenicians who inadvertently brought cats from the middle east to Europe.
It seems that sailors had cats with them on their ships from the beginning of recorded history. They successfully used the excuse that the cats would keep the rat population under control. I don’t believe that this was really true since there are stories of where the cat befriended the rats, but in most cases the cats did keep the rats from invading their living spaces. Six-toed cats were thought to be better hunters and to this day many islands in remote areas are overrun by these cats and rats that managed to get ashore from ships that foundered along the island’s shore.
Sailors are notoriously superstitious and have always believed that cats can predict the weather and bring luck. There are many accounts concerning this and there may be some truth to this but you’ll have to be the judge. Because of their sensitive inner ears cats can sense barometric pressure drops, indicating foul weather and being warned frequently crawl into their safe hidey-hole prior to a storm.
A cat named Oscar, or Oskar in German, was the mascot on the German Battle Cruiser Bismarck when she was sunk by the British. Found floating on a wooden plank, Oskar was rescued by the crew of the British ship the HMS Cossack. No sooner recued and with Oskar renamed Oscar, the HMS Cossack was sunk by the Germans. This time Oscar was rescued by the crew of the HMS Arc Royal, which was then also sunk by the German navy. Not believing their bad luck the Brit’s blamed poor Oscar and renamed the cat to the German Oskar. Thinking Oskar to be the harbinger of bad luck they contacted the German Navy and offered to return their cat. The Germans refused the offer, so the British retired Oskar to a home in Plymouth, England. This time they banned poor Oskar from ever sailing on a British Naval Vessel again and changed his name to Sam.
The British Navy banned cats from sailing on British war ships in 1975. Even though the British Navy has banned cats from their ships, other countries and merchant ships still have cats aboard.
”
”
Hank Bracker
“
Every cat is royal,” Mani declared in a tone that said he would be mad if you argued. “I am myself.
”
”
Gene Wolfe (The Knight (The Wizard Knight, #1))
“
As their expanded name suggests, EMI wasn’t only a record label. In the 1960s the company was as interesting for its electrical activities as for its musical ones. In 1959 it had launched a commercial computer called the EMIDEC 1100; it also made color TV cameras, recording equipment, guided missiles, and kettles. The piles of cash brought in by Beatlemania helped create a culture of investment at EMI. One of the things they invested in was medical equipment research. Godfrey Hounsfield, the researcher behind the EMIDEC, began work on the first commercially viable medical scanner. As the project developed, he was significantly supported by the UK government, which provided over £600,000 of support or £7 million at 2016 prices (Maizlin and Vos 2012). Over four years, he and his team invented and built the first computed tomography scanner (CT or “CAT scanner”—the A stands for “axial”). This was a remarkable feat of science and engineering. For the first time, it allowed doctors to make accurate, 3D representations of patients’ soft tissues. This was a real medical breakthrough, transforming everything from brain surgery to cancer treatment. Hounsfield was piled with honors: he received a Nobel prize and a knighthood and was made a Fellow of the Royal Society. But from a commercial point of view, it was something of a failure for EMI.
”
”
Jonathan Haskel (Capitalism without Capital: The Rise of the Intangible Economy)
“
the psychologist turned to Gillian’s mother and said, “You know, Mrs. Lynne, Gillian isn’t sick. She’s a dancer. Take her to a dance school.” I asked Gillian what happened then. She said her mother did exactly what the psychologist suggested. “I can’t tell you how wonderful it was,” she told me. “I walked into this room, and it was full of people like me. People who couldn’t sit still. People who had to move to think.” She started going to the dance school every week, and she practiced at home every day. Eventually, she auditioned for the Royal Ballet School in London, and they accepted her. She went on to join the Royal Ballet Company itself, becoming a soloist and performing all over the world. When that part of her career ended, she formed her own musical theater company and produced a series of highly successful shows in London and New York. Eventually, she met Andrew Lloyd Webber and created with him some of the most successful musical theater productions in history, including Cats and The Phantom of the Opera. Little Gillian, the girl with the high-risk future, became known to the world as Gillian Lynne, one of the most accomplished choreographers of our time, someone who has brought pleasure to millions and earned millions of dollars. This happened because someone looked deep into her eyes—someone who had seen children like her before and knew how to read the signs. Someone else might have put her on medication and told her to calm down. But Gillian wasn’t a problem child. She didn’t need to go away to a special school. She just needed to be who she really was.
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Ken Robinson (The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything)