Should we keep on the lookout for tigers?” Kenda asked his guide.“Yes,” Shahin said, his voice lowering again. “They like to pounce from behind. I've been watching our backs ever since we lost the thugs. I meant to tell you once you calmed down. Now that you know, you can help me.”“Then we are being followed?” He hoped his voice did not squeak.“Yes,” Shahin repeated gravely. “By whom or what, I do not know.”“This just gets better and better,” he groaned.

Ptah held up his mug. “Do you realize, we’ve fought together, starved together, bled together, endured slavery, and looked into the jaws of death...”“But we never drank together!” Marcus finished, clanking his mug to Ptah’s.“Exactly! The drink flows freely, and we must make up for lost time, ha ha ha!

Criticize me all you wish,” he returned coolly, “but remember that you come to me because of the very actions you denounce. Now, do you want to hear more, or are you going to stand there and pass judgment on me all day?

For the record, I blame you for this.”“Me?” huffed Shahin. “This was your idea.”“Well...you should have talked me out of it! You and your brilliant schemes—bah! This particular detail will not go into our report, understand?”“Rest assured, you'll find me silent as the grave on this point.”“And stop using morbid expressions!

Lord Tierney was furious. But when he saw how his sister had suffered, his anger shifted instead toward Rome. “If it weren’t for this new menace on the horizon,” he thundered, “I’d declare war on those haughty deceivers this instant!”Marcus stepped forward. “Kyrie, I don’t think—"“Then don’t!

I’d say it was a pleasure rowing with you, only it wasn’t.