Beyond the Shadows

“I'm not dreaming this, am I?" he asked.Dehvi lifted an eyebrow. "There's only one way to know for sure," he said.What's that?"Go piss in the woods. If you feel wet and warm afterward, wake up.”

“There's no guarantee that justice will win out or that a noble sacrifice will make any difference. But when it does, there's something that still swells my chest. There's magic in that.... It tells me that's the way things are supposed to be. ”

“A few months ago you assassinated a man who called himself a god; now you're going after a goddess in truth. Unless you can figure out a way to kill continents, after this you're going to have to retire.”

“I am Sa’kagé a lord of shadows. I claim the shadows that the Shadow may not. I am the strong arm of deliverance. I am Shadowstrider. I am the Scales of Justice. I am He-Who-Guards-Unseen. I am Shadowslayer. I am Nameless. The coranti shall not go unpunished. My way is hard but I serve unbroken. In ignobility nobility. In shame honor. In darkness light. I will do justice and love mercy. Until the king returns I shall not lay my burden down.”--(Durzo Blint to Jorses Alkestes, quoted to Skylar at the edge of Ezra's Forest.)”

“...if reality is hard and flat and unjust, then it's better to adjust to what really is than to complain that it isn't what you wish. That was what made me lose faith..... But having lost it, soon I doubted my lack of faith. There were niggling hints of meaning everywhere.”

“The perfect killer has no conscience.”

“You damn fool. You realize, even if all your assumptions are correct-even then, you still have to steal the world's most coveted sword from the world's safest place then be pursued by the ultimate hunter until you reach the heart of an enemy country in the middle of a war in which any side will happily kill you as a traitor, a spy, a wytch, or all three?""I thought you'd like it.”

“Sometimes to love is easy, but to accept love is hard.”

“That's the burden of leadership, Logan: making the choice when none of the choices are good.”

“when you deal with human beings, never count on logic or consistency.”

“It was no true prayer to beg forgiveness while choosing to sin.”

“There was a nice dilemma. How does one interject into a polite conversation,"By the way, in case you're ever interested, I do have a penise."?”

“An oath you only keep when it's convenient isn't an oath at all.”

“The intuition that had kept Kylar from Vi even from the first time she'd tried to seduce him at the Drake estate suddenly crystallized: You don't share your life with a woman's body, you share your life with a woman.”

“Durzo cleared his throat. "I've got bad news... Life being unfair and all that...""Oh, great. What is it?" [replied Kylar]"Luc Graesin? Kid you died on the wheel to save?""It was more for Logan than for Luc, but what about Luc?""Hanged himself," Durzo said...."Are you joking? After what I did for him? That asshole!”

“Tongues should be used to commit indiscretions, not to discuss them.”

“... a man who denies what is essential to his being is a man who drills holes in the cup of his own happiness.”

“To be king means to accept that others will pay the price of your failures -- and even your successes.”

“A king made choices for other people based on information they didn't have. That was the burden of rule.”

“You’re amazing,” Kylar said.~I know.~“Humble, too.”

“Desperate men fight best.”

“Logan folded his arms. His voice was granite."My word stands.""Can you love an idea more than you love a man and not become a monster? How many friends will you sacrifice on the altar of Justice, Logan?""If you force my hand, at least one."They were standing on a precipice. Socially, Logan had always been Kylar's superior. Morally, Kylar had always felt inferior, too. But they'd never been placed in a direct hierarchical relation. Now Logan was giving an order. He would not be moved.Kylar could only accept his order and accept all his orders henceforth, or reject it and them forever. There was a part of him that yearned to obey. He was convinced that killing Terah was the right thing, but Logan's moral compass was a more accurate instrument than Kylar's. What was it about submission that was so hard? Kylar wasn't being asked for blind servility. He was being asked to obey a man he knew and loved and respected, who in turn respected him.'The wolfhound is pampered by the fire. The wolf is hunted in the cold.'"Do you know how much I love you, Logan?" Kylar asked. Logan opened his mouth, but before he could say a word, Kylar said, "This much." And left.”

“A whore's truth has too many sharp edges.”

“Politics is ethics writ large.”

“Growing old with the woman I love would be my first choice, but dying reconciled with her isn't a bad second.”

“Choose in haste and regret at leisure.”

“Oh, my friend, what have you gone through that being called moral nearly makes you weep? Or was it being called friend?”

“...Alexas the blessed... was a good kid." Durzo laughed. Then his smile faded. "Broke my heart to kill him. But he needed killing by the end.”

“Si te lo pidiese, ¿matarías a Terah de Graesin? logan—Sin dudarlo. —Si no te lo pidiera, ¿lo harías de todas formas? —Sí. —¿Lo has estado planeando? —Sí. —¡Maldita sea, Kylar! Ahora lo sé. —¿Pues para qué lo preguntas? —Para eliminar la excusa. ¿Se puede gobernar con justicia después de haber conseguido el trono injustamente? —Buena pregunta para planteársela a la mujer que te robó el tuyo.”

“I am Sa'kage, a lord of shardows. I claim the shadows that the Shadow may not. I am the strong arm of deliverance. I am Shadowstrider. I am the Scales of Justice. I am He-Who-Guards-Unseen. I am Shadowslayer. I am Nameless. The coranti shall not go unpunished. My way is hard, but i serve unbroken. In ignobility, nobility. In shame, honor. In darkness, light. I will do justice and love mercy. Untill the king returns, I shall not lay my burden down.”