i'm never going to understand the Barrani." "You needn't sound so morose, Lord Kaylin. They are unlikely to understand you either." "Yes, but I'm unlikely to try to kill them for fun.

The truth was only another mask, even if it was the best fit, the closest to skin and all that lay beneath

Is this some sort of test?" "Everything that doesn't kill you is." "Mind you," he added, "surviving doesn't always mean you passed.

Kaylin is not known for her punctuality. She is known, in fact, for her lack--even by those outside of the Hawklord's command.

Trying," he said at last, "is good. It always is. But failing? Everyone fails, one time or another. It's how you deal with failure that counts, in the end. It's the successes that you're known for-but it's the failures make you what you are.

The look he gave her made her turn away for a moment. Sometimes you couldn’t look too closely at another person’s pain.

History is not our guide, it is not our friend. It is a passing stranger, one which shadows legend, sprinkling it with the seeds of truth.