The King of Attolia (The Queen's Thief, #3)

by Megan Whalen Turner

“Thank you, Phresine,” said the king, humbly. “Thank me by eating some more soup and sleeping for a while.” “Will there be poppy juice in it?” Phresine shook her head. “Good. My wife and I agreed that only my wine was to be poisoned.”

Relius lay alone with his thoughts. What kind of man, he wondered, referred to himself as “safely dead”?

“That is over now, my friend. You have been elevated to a new rank, where you are trusted unconditionally. Don’t look so uncomfortable. I have learned that there is a flaw in your philosophy. If we truly trust no one, we cannot survive.”