Furies of Calderon (Codex Alera, #1)

by Jim Butcher

“There are some people who will never understand what loyalty means. They could tell you what it was, of course, but they will never know. They will never see it from the inside. They couldn’t imagine a world where something like that was real.”

You could no more betray what you held dear than you could will your heart to stop beating. I am old, Amara. And people reveal themselves to me.” He was quiet

“Because a sound tree doesn’t have bad roots, Amara. No enterprise of greatness begins with treachery, with lying to the people who trust and love you.”