“Those who cannot conquer must bend the knee. They must find strength, or serve those of us who have. You are my generals. I will send you out: my hunting dogs, my wolves with iron teeth. When a cit...”

“They had learned that Sorhatani expected the same sort of instant obedience as her husband. She had grown up around men of power and had married into the great khans family at a very young age. She...”

“Sometimes, power could change hands as quickly as a knife thrust.”

“Get up, she said. Get up, my lord. If you do not have long, there is still much to do. You must not waste another day, another morning! Take hold of your life with both hands and crush it to you, m...”

“There is a world outside the one we know, he said softly, with cultures and races and armies who have never heard of us. Yes, and cities greater than Yenking and Karakorum. To survive, to grow, we ...”

“The world has grown too large for one army of the nation, my brother. You will ride where I tell you to ride, conquer where I tell you to conquer. The world is yours, if you can put aside the base ...”

“We have grace of strength to work, to clear our cities of any dirt.”

“Cities were always like people, showing their varying personalities to the traveler. Depending on the city and on the traveler, there might begin a mutual love, or dislike, friendship, or enmity. W...”

“Having spent a long time in open spaces, whether sea or desert, it is a luxury to be able to take refuge in towns with narrow streets which provide a fragile fortress against the assaults of the in...”

“The farthest mountain is the one you think you can never reach and it may even be just by the side of you!”