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

by Katherine Addison

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.

Test every step before you take it, and trust nothing.

But he did not forget, and told himself he would not forget, that it was possible for people to be kind without ulterior motive, that sometimes bargaining was not necessary. Sometimes, said that cold Setheris-like voice in his head. But not often.

One never relied on gossip, Setheris had said more than once, but it did not do to discount it, either.

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.”