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"It's better to be feared than loved" Ternoc replied curtly. "They will only love you for as long as you deliver them what they want, and the moment you stop, they will turn on you. It's also more expensive for a ruler to be loved. Words alone rarely win the people over. You have to build things for them, which they will quickly take for granted. What they say about me matters little. It's how they act that I care about. As long as my people obey the law and pay their taxes, I am fine with their behaviors."

He took a moment to examine some of the artwork set into niches just below the ceiling. "But if you must know, my people consider me to be something of an oddity. I have the least blood on my claws of any of my realm's rulers, probably ever. Some say it's an act, and that the bad old days will be back once I'm crowned king. As for what my people think of Xigyll, I understand that most view your city and its people with hatred, pity, or disdain."