The Goblin Emperor (The Chronicles of Osreth, #1)

by Katherine Addison

“Nothing can make death easier,” Cala said, “but silence can make it harder.”

Compassion was all that he could hope for. He could not pray for love or forgiveness; both were out of reach. He could not forgive his father, and he could not love his brothers whom he had never met. But he could feel compassion for them, as he did for the other victims, and it was that he sought more than anything else: to mourn their deaths rather than holding on to his anger at their lives.

how many more moments like this he would have to go through, how many more times the reality of the tragedy would bludgeon him to the floor. Each time he thought, Surely this is enough to bring it home, but then he would turn some other unexpected corner, and there it would be again, cruel and stark and pitiless.

It is Lord Pashavar you need to sway.” “Have you any suggestions?” Csevet made a face. “Lord Pashavar is very difficult. Almost, we would suggest waiting for him to die, but that could take years.”

“It is possible to be friends with a man—indeed, to care for him deeply—and yet disapprove of his conduct.

An emperor who breaks laws is a mad dog and a danger, but an emperor who will never break a rule is nearly as bad, for he will never be able to recognize when a law must be changed.”

it has never once occurred to us to doubt your loyalty. Nor do we do so now.” He managed a ragged quirk of a smile. “Were you part of Lord Chavar’s plot, it would have been much better executed.”

WE KNEW SHEVEÄN WAS AN IDIOT, BUT WE HAD NO IDEA SHE WOULD GO SO FAR IN HER IDIOCY. WE REGRET EXTREMELY THAT WE CANNOT CHALLENGE HER TO A DUEL & PROVE HER WORTHLESSNESS UPON HER CARCASE, BUT WE ARE TOLD THAT DUELING IS BARBARIC & UNBEFITTING A LADY & IN ANY EVENT SHEVEÄN WOULD NOT KNOW HOW.

She would not be what she is if she had ever had something given her that was a burden equal to her strength.