The Fate of the Tearling (The Queen of the Tearling, #3)

by Erika Johansen

There was hypocrisy in the Red Queen’s argument, but that did not change its underlying logic.

“You idealists are all the same,” the Red Queen spat. “You assume that because you wish no harm, your decisions are always harmless.

“In such cases, Lear, safety is an illusion,” Tear told them. “A discontented population will erode even the most secure state. But even if safety were somehow achievable by force, Lear, ask yourself this: how important is safety? Is it worth steadily undermining every principle on which a free nation was founded? What sort of nation will you have then?”