A surprising simile, something as ordinary and comforting as warm tea, here poured differently to describe a stream of blood.  Steerpike is the worst person in the granite pile of Gormenghast – may we all be spared his scheming type.

‘The blood, streaming down Steerpike’s neck, feels as warm as tea as it slides to his belly.’

See also our bestellar review of this book, with its lavishly illustrated quote-mosaic, packed with fine phrasing and fresh metaphors.  

Source: Mervyn Peake, Titus Groan, introduction by Anthony Burgess (London: Vintage Books, 1998), p. 354

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