Thick As Thieves Quotes
"The whole course of this narrative might have been different. I would have seen the Attolian waiting ahead of me in an empty hallway of the palace in time to dodge into one of the side passages used by the menial slaves and servants."
"In my experience, crooked men assume others are crooked as well, and I was reconsidering Rakra’s character."
"As a slave in the emperor’s palace I had authority over all of my master’s other slaves and most of his free men."
"It was best to stay out of his sight as much as possible until his temper evened out."
"I could have discharged him from my master’s service—I had that kind of authority—but Rakra had been hired by the steward at the family estate, the very one whose accounts were out of order."
"I thought he might pull the chain off, and I braced myself, but he just shook his head, bemused."
"Money is the same from country to country, too."
"Hospitality is much the same in many countries—and they think you are rich."
"I didn’t think he could carry off an impersonation of a Mede for very long."
"I regretted that my master’s purse was lost, but he would apply for funds in the morning, trading on his good name with men who knew his father."
"Bowing to good sense, the Attolian picked a table while the innkeeper bustled away."
"I shook my head, hoping he would realize how odd it would look to the other patrons."
"It would draw more attention if we stood talking about it."
"The story of my master’s murder at the hand of his secretary had to have preceded us."
"That sort of news travels faster than horses, faster than boats."
"The messengers of the gods carry rumors through the sky the way bees carry pollen."
"No one had any cause to doubt my good conduct."
"Leaving in the morning would be unexceptional."
"Once I was dressed as a free man, I could break the links of the slave chain."
"I sent up a quick prayer that the emperor would be satisfied to have me just disappear."
"I looked all around me while berating myself."
"I could very clearly imagine what my master would have done if such a thing had happened while I was with him."
"We threaded our way through the narrow side streets."
"It was the first time I’d done so, though I’d often passed through sites such as this one with my master."
"My master didn’t dip his finger because he was above such things."
"I didn’t because as a slave I was beneath them."
"I was counting on that distraction, as well as the crowds at the caravan site, to give me a chance to slip away from him."
"The Attolian nodded along at the appropriate moments, his Mede evidently good enough to follow the conversation."
"I woke to the sound of the animal keepers leading out the horses and the camels and loading them with their burdens."
"No one seemed able to speak in anything but a shout."
"By the end of the first, very long day we were still climbing out of the fertile valley of the Ianna."
"I regretted not breaking my slave chain in the town behind us and dropping it quietly into the river with my shift."
"I could leave the camp for my private business and yank the chain loose in the dark."
"If I dropped the chain without burying it, it might be found, and suspicion would fall on me instantly."
"I resolved to sleep lightly and with the blanket the Attolian had purchased drawn close around my shoulders."
"The chill in his demeanor had thawed a little."
"The Attolian frequently volunteered the two of us for the least attractive shifts of guard duty."
"We worked as one man, he and I, so that no resentment built up over my inabilities."
"When you offer it to the well, the Goddess’s favor is on you."
"Your journey will take you farther than you imagine."
"The longer it is unclear if he means to invade, the longer he can prepare his armies without drawing the Greater Powers in."
"My king thinks that the emperor must attack the Little Peninsula or die."
"He could have kept her. I was more important to him than a dancing girl."
"The interior shone like the sun, but the tin had overreached the edge in places and run in untidy streaks down the outside of the pan."
"If you had told me in Sukir, I would have let you go."
"You knew what I thought of Attolia. You heard me after that Namreen tried to take my head off."
"I am not a fool, and if my old master catches me, I am a dead man."
"If it were Nahuseresh lying on this bed, would you still be here?"
"I had no choice but to stake everything on a chance to escape my fate, and I’d lost."
"I couldn’t see him at first, but I knew someone had arrived because every head turned in his direction and words died on every lip."
"This was not the weak and silly man he had described."
"The queen lives and will be well," said the king, and everyone breathed again."
"Great king, my master, Nahuseresh, is dead. I have—I have deceived your servant to secure my freedom."
"It is my fault. Let neither of us blame Costis."
"You would not have left Nahuseresh otherwise," said the king.
"Kings don’t move mountains as a favor to a friend."
"I’ve taken something from you that I had no right to take. As Laela did. I hope you will forgive us both."
"I’m sorry," said the king. "I know you wanted your chance at the emperor’s side, even if it meant your death would come with his."
"It wasn’t just spite or friendship," he said. "Though I hope you will believe that both played their part."
"Anything worth doing is worth overdoing, it seems."
"I’ve upended your life for spite, Kamet. Will you let me make it up to you?"
"The disobedient servant I’d found endearing and the king who’d stolen my future—I struggled to put the two people together in my head."
"Sometimes a little bit of spite motivates what more kindness cannot."
"I am a free man. So I bowed again, said, 'Good day,' and continued past him up the stairs."