If you do not act, the world dies, and you with it. Surely survival is worth a little effort? Unless you are so eager to retire to that dismal heaven… - Melinda M. Snodgrass

Terrible things have happened. The de Witts are killed."
"Is this so terrible? They have been your foes from the moment of your birth, and though out of power would have continued to conspire against you."
"Sagi, if we must needs kill our opponents then civilization is a chimera. Governments are formed so that men may disagree without murder, and I tell you true, I loathe a mob more than anything."
"They acted out of love for you."
"That does not comfort me.

Clouds boiled like a brooding frown in the west, and the sun drew fire from them as it sank burning and orange into their billowing embrace.

He suddenly remembered Prince John Maurice’s assessment of the situation in a recent letter: The government lost its head, the people its heart, the country its hope.