"Ambition," Katarina said, "is the single most important force in any civilization."
The wind off the southern ocean whipped her hair sideways. She stood at the cliff's edge with her hands behind her back and her chin tilted up.
"Every trade route, every great house that ever rose to prominence did so because someone wanted more than what they had. Not need. Want. Need is survival. Ambition is what turns survival into civilization. The Valdari didn't build port cities because they needed shelter from the rain. They built them because someone looked at a coastline and thought, 'I could own that.'"
She paused for effect.
"Understand?" She looked back at her audience.
Behind her, Vessa was sitting on a rock, kicking her legs and eating a dried fig.
"You're weird," Vessa said.
[... Some right-hand woman you are.]
