#tareck

[youareanemberintheashes]

"I'd hoped you loving her would open your damned eyes." "I do not love her," Makram said. Tareck flicked his gaze up and snorted. "Wheel preserve me, the lies you tell yourself." He glanced toward the arch, then leaned forward, pitching his voice low. "I warned her that your brother is unstable because you can't pull your head out of your ass to do so. I did it to protect the only ruler I believe has the interest of the people at heart. The only one who sees things clearly. I want to believe it of you, but you remain blinded by your loyalty to your brother. He might have been friend to you once, but he is no longer." "Do not say such things," Makram rebuked, darting a look at the doors. If Kinus heard him he'd be in prison. Cold hands squeezed around his heart. Tareck stood as he was, stone-faced and silent, watching as realization took Makram and put a stranglehold on him. Naime wouldn't even sentence a man she knew was guilty without a trial. Kinus would imprison a loyal man for even daring to speak words that suggested he was unjust. Makram pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes. "Go escort the Sultana," he said. Tareck bowed and strode away. pg.301

[youareanemberintheashes]

Her safest option was to leave Sarkum this instant. But that would be rash, and despite what Tareck said about her foregoing emotion for logic, she had no desire to abandon Makram to a situation he was blind to. pg.264-265

[youareanemberintheashes]

She took a deep breath to center herself and her magic, finding the place inside her that was always calm. The eye of the storm of her power around which the chaos of her world revolved. "How many Sival or Chara'a are there living in the palace or with access to it?" She needed to know what threat she faced. "One, Sultana, and I do not believe he would ever hurt you." Perhaps not with magic, she thought, acknowledging for a moment the ache in the back of her throat. Why couldn't she have stayed away from him? Things would be so much clearer now if they were not entangled with her emotions. pg.264

[youareanemberintheashes]

"I fear the Agassi may have unintentionally endangered you. Though I occasionally masquerade as a steward. I am a solider." He tapped his sword hilt. "The Agassi and I have fought together. I always protect his blind side. There is a blow coming that he cannot see, and he will not be prepared. You have proven yourself to be someone who can set aside her emotions for logic. You will be prepared, even if he is not. What you do with this information is of course your choice." pg.263

[youareanemberintheashes]

"Forgive me if I overstep, but, he admires you. He cares for you. You are, as a ruler, all the things he wishes his brother to be. Now that he has seen that, I believe he will not look at the Mirza in the same light. And when the Mirza sees him again, he will sense his hold has weakened. It will frighten him, and he will attempt to take control again." pg.263

[youareanemberintheashes]

"I do not understand." Naime pressed her hands to the cold glass of the window and closed her eyes. "How can he despise his brother and yet Makram looks up to him, believes in him?" "Someone starved of something will take whatever they can get and make it into what they need, because they do not know there is more to be had in the world." Tareck cleared his throat and said, "He believes in rulers from stories, that are fair, and just, and do what's right by the majority. He has tried to shape his brother into that, thinking if he believed hard enough it would come to pass." "But it will not." pg.262

[youareanemberintheashes]

"Why did the Mirza take care of Makram if he hated his magic?" "At first I think he truly cared. They were brothers. It was only after the Agassi's power manifested that the Mirza began to resent magic, resent how people listened to the Agassi and not to him, how they talked about his power but ignored the Mirza's. Now, I think he does it because the Agassi is the most dangerous man in Sarkum. The only thing that could unseat the Mirza, not just because of his magic, but because the entire military is under his command." pg.262

[youareanemberintheashes]

"Just so we are clear, Captain. Making a man bleed from the ears is not the worst I am capable of." He bowed again, but she caught the ghost of a smile before he ducked his face out of view. "Of course, Sultana.. And I am unarmed." pg.260