The minister of war snorted. The magus didn't recognize this as high praise, and he said stiffly, "I've been told that his father wanted him to be a … - Megan Whalen Turner

Unable to guess the answer, she asked, "Who am I, that you should love me?"
"You are My Queen," said Eugenides. She sat perfectly still, looking at him without moving as his words dropped like water into dry earth.
"Do you believe me?" he asked.
"Yes," she answered.
"Do you love me?"
"Yes."
"I love you."
And she believed him.

He lies to you?" Attolia asked.
"Constantly," said Eddis. "He lies to himself. If Eugenides talked in his sleep, he'd lie then, too."
Attolia looked stunned. "And you can't tell?"
Eddis thought for a moment. "I sometimes believe his lies are truth, but I have never mistaken his truth for a lie. If he needs me to believe him, he has his own way of showing his veracity.

Eschewing ceremony, Eugenides said, "You shot their ambassador?"
"You gave me the gun," protested Sounis.
"I didn't mean for you to shoot an ambassador with it!" Eugenides told him.
"Oh, how our carefully laid plans go astray," murmured the magus.
"You shut up!" said Gen, laughing.