Westmark Power Quotes

Cabbarus, chief minister of the realm, bent over his desk scanning a sheaf of documents. Cabbarus had the virtue of diligence with an immense capacity for drudgery, and he had been at his work since dawn. From the day of his elevation from superintendent of the Royal Household, he had shown himself willing and eager to accept duties the other ministers found boring. Cabbarus, as a result, had his fingers in everything from the purchase of lobsters to the signature of death warrants. His eyes were everywhere: eyes the color of slate, unblinking; with a glance that made all on whom it rested feel, in comparison with him, less noble, less high-minded, and that their linen needed changing. (5.1)

Out of respect for his position, the chief minister allowed himself certain small luxuries. One of these was a private garden that yielded, in all seasons, blossoms of information. Cabbarus fertilized it with generous applications of money. The harvest was always more plentiful and usually more accurate than the labored, vegetablelike reports of provincial constables and police spies. Cabbarus earnestly believed his rank entitled him to this higher quality of produce. Since he cultivated his garden personally, he saw no reason to share it.

As in the most carefully tended gardens, the occasional weed sprang up or plant withered. Cabbarus had his disappointments. The individual he counted on to deal with Torrens had not thrived. This in itself did not trouble the chief minister. As a precaution, the man would have been pruned, in any case. What nettled Cabbarus was that he had no inkling of the doctor's fate. (18.1-2)

He sauntered over to the constables. Smiling, he quietly suggested they leave. He did not raise hand or voice. The smile never left his face, but his gray eyes had turned bright and hard as ice. The officers blustered a few moments, then declared the matter unimportant and hurried out. Theo understood. It was not the townsfolk they feared. It was Florian. (13.37)

"Tomorrow? We can't. There's not enough time."
"Take it or leave it. Tomorrow or not at all." The dwarf rocked back and forth on his heels.
Theo's mind raced. He could not bring himself to turn down such a piece of business. With a master craftsman like Anton, the two of them working all night at top speed, it was possible, though barely so. But the decision was Anton's to make. Theo had never promised work on his own. (1.24-26)

Augustine turned a feverish eye on his chief minister. The king was not a tall man; since his loss, he had shrunk still further into himself: emptied, filled only with inner shadows. He had never ceased to blame himself for being too doting a father. Had he been less indulgent, the tragedy would not have happened. Because it was too late to take a stronger hand with his daughter, he had chosen Cabbarus to take a stronger hand with his people. Since then, Augustine had only one concern. (5.11)

Mickle shook her head. "I don't know letters."

"You can't write?" Theo put down his brush. "You can't even read?" (8.24-25)

As Torrens admitted, it was health only of the body. The king spent his new energy pursuing his old obsession. Cabbarus had no intention of turning him from it. Instead of warning him against disappointment, Cabbarus provided Augustine with still more occultists and spiritualists, each with a different method of summoning the departed. They shared one thing in common: failure. Each disappointment took its toll of Augustine's health, undoing the best efforts of the court physician. (9.3)

Cabbarus stretched out an accusing finger at the court physician. "You have gone too far. You are dismissed from His Majesty's service. Banished from the kingdom. Return at your peril, under pain of death. Be grateful your punishment is so light."

"These are your words, not the king's. You have done your best to make a puppet of him, and have done all too well." The court physician was a vigorous man with the arms and shoulders of a peasant. He pushed Cabbarus aside and dropped to one knee before Augustine.

"I beg you, Sire, listen to me. You risk your life and sanity for no purpose. This villain puts words in your mouth. Speak for yourself."

Augustine's lips trembled, but the words were clear. "We banish you. Set foot again in our kingdom and your life is forfeit. Such is our Royal Will." (9.20-23)

"Listen to me, all of you," he muttered through clenched teeth. "I don't want you damaged, but I'll have you one way or another. As for this one," he added, indicating Theo, "he had a hand in getting you out of Nierkeeping. I know that and it's not your concern how I know it. He's mixed up with that band of rebels, and I can turn him over to the military here and now. They'll put him against a wall and shoot him. Or you can all come nicely and quietly, and that other matter stays a friendly little secret among us. That's a fair bargain, wouldn't you say?" (22.11)

Before Mickle could go on, the chief minister burst out, "What is this monstrous trickery? Majesty, they have deceived me with their promises. They are frauds—"
"Be silent." cried Augustine. "The spirit of my child at last speaks to me. She tells me truly how she came to her death." (25.8-9)