The Doors of Midnight (Tales of Tremaine #2)

by R.R. Virdi

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sengero,

Ernesto Vengenza.

You’re in line behind a great many others. I hope you’re content to wait your turn.

Zibrath.

So Ari went on for a hundred days and a hundred nights.

No story is without magic. Even if it is a small one.

Few things are as dangerous as man doing evil that he believes is for the best good.

To be so great a myth that the real man vanishes—a thing unbelievable?”

But friendship isn’t one of life’s little luxuries. It’s a necessity.

kardan.

rupai,

Asir:

Radhivahn,

the Sithre, Brahm’s handmade angels,

There is little else better than a good story in the deepest cold.

Nothing so sinister as murdering me in a packed tavern.

“Good to see you found your path, Ari.”

wilesome

daresay,

They didn’t kill men, sword in hand, and then take over a gang of thieves.

Will one of those be mine … one day?

And it’s no mystery who put it there.

No tears shed for the loss of blood, but instead the weight of curiosity?

I would think you were trying to kill me.”

If you can’t beat them, seduce them. It works for me.”

thickwit,

arrey,

sahm.

“I think he’s finally cracked.”

my atham,

visible contemplation of a life where I’d ended up as ash.

“Well, how about that, there is a way to shut you up.”

Tarun Tharambadh?”

Bikhal,

Let them whisper. Let them talk. Let them spread it wide.

I suppose if I murdered him he couldn’t really do anything to me, could he?”

That is a kind of friendship not often seen in the world.

“Ari, if you follow his lead”—she nodded toward Radi—“a woman’s going to be the death of you one day.”

Think of the story—the songs they’ll sing about that!”

mandolin

I could conjure fire, if you believed the stories, but I couldn’t spare a moment for my friends.

‘A mind kept silent, and a heart held still, keeps the shadows of temptation at bay.’

I’d buried Ampur and killed an old god.

There’s nothing I love more than putting on a good show.”

rupai.

I have enough wealth to buy your death.

Had I gone too far?

Threatening my family crossed the line, but would the masters see it that way if it reached their ears?

A ring of flame around a pool of darkness.”