1
He would never understand women, he thought. They were life’s great mystery.Conn Iggulden
2
For the khan, we will take their cities, their women, and their lands. This is the great raid, the farthest strike in the history of the nation of Genghis. We will not be stopped.Conn Iggulden
3
History was more than just stories, he reminded himself as the men walked forward with their burdens. It taught lessons as well.Conn Iggulden
4
Xuan smiled at the thought of men sleeping peacefully next to those they would try to kill in daylight. Only humanity could have conceived such a strange and artificial way to die. Wolves might tear the flesh of deer, but they never slept and dreamed near their quarry.Conn Iggulden
5
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 city closes its gates in fear, you will destroy it. When they make roads and walls, you will cut them, pull down the stones. When a man raises a sword or bow against your men, you will hang him from a tree. Keep Karakorum in your minds as you go. This white city is the heart of the nation, but you are the right arm, the burning brand. Find me new lands, gentlemen. Cut a new path. Let their women weep a sea of tears and I will drink it all.Conn Iggulden
6
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 khan’s family at a very young age. She knew that men prefer to follow, that it takes an effort of will to lead. She had that will.Conn Iggulden
7
Sometimes, power could change hands as quickly as a knife thrust.Conn Iggulden
8
The world cannot be full of lead dogs, or the pack would pull itself apart.Conn Iggulden
9
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, my lord. You will not have another in this world.Conn Iggulden
10
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 must remain strong. We must conquer new lands, so that our army is always fed, always moving. To stop is to die, Chagatai.Conn Iggulden
11
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 part of you that tells you to rule it all. That you may not have. Now give me an answer and your oath. Your word is iron, brother, and I will take it. Or I can just kill you now.Conn Iggulden
12
Courage cannot be left like bones in a bag. It must be brought out and shown the light again and again, growing stronger each time. If you think it will keep for the times you need it, you are wrong. It is like any other part of your strength. If you ignore it, the bag will be empty when you need it most.Conn Iggulden
13
There are many who say ‘I believe this, ’ but would they hold true to those beliefs if their children were threatened? No. But Genghis would. If you told him you would kill his children, he would tell you to go ahead, but realize that the cost would be infinite, that he would tear down cities and nations and the price would never be paid. He did not lie and his enemies knew it. His word was iron.Conn Iggulden
14
There is a price for all things, my son, for all men. I have merely to find his.Conn Iggulden
15
You obey orders, because if you do not, you cannot expect the same from your men. You are part of the wolf, not the whole wolf. I would have thought you had learned that when you were a boy, but it is not the case. A wolf cannot have more than one head, General, or it tears itself apart.Conn Iggulden
16
No worthy goal should come easily, he told himself. Suffering created value.Conn Iggulden
17
Be careful in your life, Tolui. I want you fit and strong for when I come for you.Conn Iggulden
18
If a man has gold, he lives with the terror that someone will take it away from him, so he builds walls around it. Then everyone knows where the gold is, so they come and take it. That’s the way it always goes, brother. Fools and gold, together.Conn Iggulden
19
The nation of my father is too strong for a man who cannot command even his own body.Conn Iggulden
20
A man needs to feel a little fear, Tolui, if only to have the pride of conquering it.Conn Iggulden
21
A brave man could conquer fear, he had learned that, but perhaps only for a time. It was something the young did not understand, the way it could gnaw at a man, the way it came back stronger every time, until you were alone and gasping for breath.Conn Iggulden
22
I am not you and all my choices have already been made, good and bad.Conn Iggulden
23
If he had learned anything from his father’s fate, it was to win, no matter how you did it. It was not important if someone else was hurt, or killed. If you won, you would be forgiven anything. You could be taken from a stinking ger and forced through the ranks until a thousand men followed your orders as if they came from the khan himself. Blood and talent. The nation was built on both.Conn Iggulden
24
If he had learned anything in manhood, it was that it didn’t matter what other people thought of him–even the ones he respected. In the end, he would patch together a life, with its sorry errors and its triumphs, just as they had.Conn Iggulden
25
As he prepared to ride on, he chuckled at the thought of the wolf entering the sheepfold. He would not ride with fire and destruction. The shepherd did not frighten his own pretty lambs.Conn Iggulden
26
Kublai went on as if he had not spoken.“ Before you all, in the lands of my enemies, I declare myself great khan of the nation, of the khanates under my brothers, Hulegu and Arik-Boke, of the Chagatai khanate and all others. I declare myself great khan of the Chin lands and the Sung. I have spoken and my word is iron!Conn Iggulden
27
I am the rightful khan of the nation. I am the gur-khan. My word is iron and my word is law.Conn Iggulden
28
The wisdom of age is bitter when those you have failed have gone.Conn Iggulden
29
The man attempted to salute and Renius forced himself to smile, biting back his temper at the sloppy manners. He watched the fat figure run away into the buildings and wiped the first beads of sweat from his brow. Strange that such men as that should understand loyalty where so many others threw it aside at the first hint of freedom.Conn Iggulden
30
Predators did not need mercy.Conn Iggulden
31
God had mercy, he knew. The Mongols had none.Conn Iggulden
32
It's all you can say, when the end comes: 'I did not waste my time.' I think that matters. I think it may be all that matters.Conn Iggulden
33
Sung Win smiled to himself, enjoying the tension across his shoulders and the way his pulse beat in his veins. All life involved risk.Conn Iggulden
34
You have a powerful army, Kublai, but the best force is one you do not have to use.Conn Iggulden
35
There is no escape from me, not even in death.Conn Iggulden
36
We are all fools with our sons. We wipe them and suckle them and all we expect is for them to be grateful to the end of their days.Conn Iggulden
37
My word is iron, " Kublai said to the guards, as Meng Guang was led away. "Your people will come to know this, in time.Conn Iggulden