The Blacktongue Thief (Blacktongue, #1)

by Christopher Buehlman

the rich hold grudges the poor can’t afford,

When it croaked out of my mouth, I meant it as statement of fact, but looking back, it sounded perfectly weird, ambiguous, and off-putting, so it was just the right thing.

These cares of yours can never stay For you are lovely, fit, and gay

Monarchy is a bad system because, no matter how smart you are, you can still squirt a moron out of your plumbing. Maybe you get lucky and your son or daughter is at least half as smart as you—what about your grandchild? Probably a knob, and when they inherit the throne, everything you built falls to shyte.