"Bending over Eugenides, she grabbed his head by the hair above his forehead and twisted. Eugenides's eyes opened, and his feet trashed in panic. Looking up at her, with her face filling his field of vision, he stopped moving as if suddenly paralized.
"Goatfoot," she said, "do you understand what is going to happen to you?"

"Attolia snapped, "You have any mistresses and I'll cut your other hand off."
Besides her, Eddis stiffened. Attolia raised her chin to meet the look that her seneschal had said would melt lead. Eddis opened her mouth, but before she could put her thoughts into words, Eugenides laughed. Laughing, he dropped his head onto the bed; then he looked up to grin at Attolia.
She looked back at him, and her cheeks flushed. She said, with sincerity, "You are a poisonous little snake."

"I did that next. She said there would be a hunting party leaving this morning; perhaps I'd like to join."
"And?" Eddis asked, looking at his arm. He hadn't ridden well enough to hunt on horseback even before losing his hand.
"I told her I'd already been hunted in Attolia, thank you very much."
"Oh, Gen," sighed Eddis."

"Nooo," he said, and he looked over at her. In his eyes Eddis saw a hint of something she couldn't remember having seen there before. Panic.
"I didn't think about being king," he said, his voice hoarse, either from worry or from the bruises around his neck.
Eddis stared. "Your capacity to land yourself in a mess because you didn't think first, Eugenides, will never cease to amaze me. What do you mean you didn't think about being king? Is Attolia going to marry you and move into my library?"

"What will you do now?"
"Oh" - he tried unsuccessfully to keep the tremor out of his voice - "grovel, I suppose."
"I've heard you do that before," said Attolia, briefly amused in spite of herself.
Eugenides swallowed. "That was begging," he said with a better effort at lightness. "There wasn't much opportunity from groveling last... time." He stumbled, then added evenly, "I am very good at groveling."

"Eddis looked at her minister, curious. "Your head? she asked.
Attolia explained. "He had to be forcibly dissuaded from strangling his son."
"So have we all from time to time," Eddis said seriously.
One of Attolia's eyebrow rose in carefully conveyed surprise. Eddis took not of the expression, amused to have found at last, she was certain, the original of the look Eugenides had copied. She smiled.
Attolia hesitated, then smiled herself, very briefly. In her expression Eddis saw hope for her Thief, and her heart lightened."