Before They Are Hanged (The First Law, #2)

by Joe Abercrombie

For an example, we need look no further than the Emperor Shilla.” He gazed up at the marble above them, its features all but entirely worn away by the weather. “When he suspected his chamberlain of harbouring pretensions to the throne, he ordered him put to death on the instant, his wife and all his children strangled, his great mansion in Aulcus levelled to the ground.” Bayaz shrugged. “All without the slightest shred of proof. An excessive and a brutal act, but better to act with too much force than too little. Better to be held in fear, than in contempt. Shilla knew this. There is no place for sentiment in politics, do you see?”

One should learn the lessons of history. The mistakes of the past need only be made once.”

“I imagine it makes you sick, to be treated that way. Very sick, and very angry.” If only you knew. “It still seems a strange decision, though, for the tortured to turn torturer.” “On the contrary, nothing could be more natural. In my experience, people do as they are done to. You were sold by your father and bought by your husband, and yet you choose to buy and sell.” Eider frowned. Something for her to think about, perhaps? “I would have thought your pain would give you empathy.” “Empathy? What’s that?” Glokta winced as he rubbed at his aching leg. “It’s a sad fact, but pain only makes you sorry for yourself.”

“Strange, eh? How the plants outlast the greatest works of men.”

Delay is the parent of disaster, my father used to tell me, and believe me, I’ve seen some disasters.”

Ferro shook her head. “You expect too much out of life, pink.” He grinned. “And here was me thinking you expect too little.” “Expect nothing and you won’t be disappointed.” “Expect nothing and you’ll get nothing.”

Silence, then. Silence was dull, but it was honest.