It matters, because I can't do anything more for this country, and it matters," he yelled as he threw the papers back to his desk, "because I only ha… - Megan Whalen Turner

For a moment Costis could see, not so much what was hidden but that there were things hidden that the king did not choose to reveal. Things that were not for Costis to see. There was no understanding him, but Costis knew he would march into hell for this fathomless king, as he would for his queen. So long, he worried, as they didn't order him in opposite directions at the same time. What he would do when that happened, Costis couldn't guess.

Think of it as stealing not you but the king's faith in you."
"And what happens to me without the king's faith?"
"If you're smart, you leave Sounis," said Eugenides. "Quickly.

The king paused. "Your master of spies is a liar, and this time he is lying," the king said slowly, "to you." Attolia frowned, then almost imperceptibly shook her head.
"Have him arrested," said the king. After another pause he added unequivocally, "Now."
If he succeeds in having me killed, you could be the next Captain of the Guard. What, then, if the king destroyed Relius? Who would replace him?
Costis hardly breathed. The king hadn't ordered the arrest himself, though he could have, but he had directed the queen to do so, in public. Now they would see if the queen could protect her own or not.