The Veiled Throne

“I'd love to see either of you try maintaining a peaceful household with four husbands.”— Goztan Ryoto

“A cruben begets a cruben, a dyran begets a dyran, and an octopus's daughter can crack eight oysters all at the same time.”— Oga Kidosu

“A lie became the truth when enough people had reasons to pretend it was true.”— Narrator

“The race of humankind grows toward infinity, even as the nature of each individual is limited.”— Tazu

“In war, we become more like our enemies, whether we want to or not.”— Pekyu Tenryo

“Aphorisms can’t help you survive, but the ability to hold in mind competing ideals just might.”— Oga Kidosu

“Every single person on this expedition is irreplaceable... We’re not going to jump to sacrifice as the first solution to every problem. That’s the easy way out.”— Princess Thera

“We each have a role in the grand shadow play of history, but we also get to write our own lines.”— Princess Thera

“The best-laid plan in the world is no match for the unpredictable storms of reality.”— Admiral Roso

“The nature of the beast will always be revealed.”— Takval Aragoz

“So much of learning... consisted of forgetting how much you already knew.”— Princess Thera

“If there’s going to be death because of me, whether it’s the horses or you or anyone else, the least I can do is not look away. That would be barbaric.”— Princess Thera

“You claim to speak for the Agon, yet your people are huddled here in the desert, eking out a life of terror in the shadow of your Lyucu masters.”— Princess Thera

“The heart isn’t a fixed pool like a water bubble in the grass sea; it grows and swells like the ocean.”— Princess Thera

“It’s more fun to paint the way I want to rather than copy the work of the gods anyway.”— Princess Fara

“If only the other ministers took as much interest as you do in the lives of the people of Dara.”— Prince Timu

“This. Is. Not. Dara.”— Tanto Aragoz

“You’re not ready.”— Jia Matiza

“A clever woodpecker... will continue to try out new trees even after it has made a choice for nesting... Or if the tree it has chosen starts to die.”— Lady Ragi

“It’s always easy to negotiate with people like him, because all he cares about is himself.”— Princess Thera

“I have to accept that Luan Zya was more like my father than he was like me.”— Tanvanaki

“Those who stand on the border between belief and disbelief, leaning toward what is convenient at the moment, make up the majority.”— Nazu Tei

“The discovery of an unauthorized native teacher... constitutes a military emergency, and all Imperial edicts... are hereby suspended.”— Cutanrovo Aga

“Expand your heart and listen.”— Nazu Tei

“Our reign is named Audacious Freedom, but both parts are lies! You have all been living as Cowardly Slaves!”— Emperor Thaké (Timu)

“My heart is heavy with doubt, but I am not the pékyu nor the Princess of Dara.”— Souliyan Aragoz

“The aspen wishes to stand still, but the wind does not stop.”— Narrator

“We are a family of choice, and we seek a life of clean conscience and constant learning.”— Widi Tucru

“The people most affected by change are also the ones who know best how to change.”— Jia Matiza

“Dara-raaki must be destroyed! We will remake Ukyu-taasa into a paradise!”— Cutanrovo Aga

“It was the only way. They can’t possibly escape Cudyu with all those children slowing them down.”— Radia

“Even when a snowstorm kills a thousand flowers, the buried thasé-teki dreams of summer bloom.”— Narrator

“I get the feeling that you’re also digging down here in part because you don’t want to be outside.”— Goztan Ryoto

“We are a family of choice, and we seek a life of clean conscience and constant learning.”— Widi Tucru

“The Hutos mean to humiliate us by making a big splash. Well, I won’t go down that easy.”— Widow Wasu

“The victory is incomplete. I have the body of a tusked tiger but not the head.”— Cudyu Roatan

“The best restaurants are theaters where the desires of the heart are staged.”— Lolotika Tuné

“Once they’ve submitted completely, they’ll become arucuro tocua, living bones who move only by the winds of our will.”— Cutanrovo Aga

“Love has no place for lies.”— Widow Wasu

“An inflexible general uses cavalry to counter cavalry... a flexible general sees the commonality between all realms of war.”— Gin Mazoti (from her treatise)

“The race goes not always to the swift.”— Widow Wasu

“You have to trust Arona’s makeup skills.”— Widi Tucru

“The Every-Mother demands that we survive winter in this forbidden place—it’s up to us to see how many of us will make it.”— Sataari

“The best stories are not about victory, but about the grace of the vanquished.”— Princess Fara

“I am useless. I’ve ruined everything.”— Princess Thera

“Love, once given, cannot be rescinded.”— Princess Fara

“My name is Savo Ryoto.”— Savo Ryoto (Kinri)