“If we truly trust no one, we cannot survive.”

“Calf love doesn't usually survive amputation, Your Majesty.”

“I am not sure I trust you.""You can trust me with your life, My King.""But not with my wine, obviously. Give it back.”

“We are taught to treat a practice sword with all the respect of a real weapon, so no thoughtless mistakes are made""Oh... In Eddis, we learn to keep tack of the weapon we have in our hand.”

“One cannot toss ambassadors back like bad fish," said Eugenides. "You treat them with care, or you'll find you've committed an act of war.”

“He looked at their shabby clothes in puzzlement.“We were traveling anonymously for safety—” explained the magus.“But surely—”“—and then we were robbed on the road.”“Ah,” said the king, “the danger in being anonymous.”

“We are not philosophers, we are sovereigns. The rules that govern our behavior are not the rules for other men, and our honor, I think, is a different thing entirely, difficult for anyone but the historians and the gods to judge.”