"You may not believe me when I say this, but I have tread a similar path to yours. The Turks... well. Their ways were brutal and ruthless. They stole the lives of those under them and they demanded nothing but obedience. And they too chose the wrong land to go against and they suffered for their folly." If they'd left him and his people alone, if they'd honored the pledge he'd made to pay tribute and live in peace- well. He wouldn't be here now. And who knows how far their reach would have gone in the world had he not cut the head of the snake off when he did.

He knew that pride; the pride of surviving when it was so unexpected. He had no doubts she'd earned it. And he bore his own stains on his soul that he wouldn't erase for what he'd gained from them. "Monstrous behavior breeds monsters, and they shouldn't be so surprised when those shadows come home to roost."