Now I Rise

"I— Yes, I know. I wish we could have done it another way, but I think you are right. The Danesti boyars would never have supported a new Wallachia under you. But their children are innocent. You can afford to show mercy."
She remembered the choice Huma made to assassinate Mehmed`s infant half brother to avoid future civil war. Kill a child, save an empire. It was terrible. Sometimes terrible things were necessary. But unlike Mehmed, who had his vicious mother, no one would make these choices for Lada. No one would save her from this. She had to be strong. "Mercy is the one thing I cannot afford. Not yet. When Wallachia is stable, when we have rebuilt, then yes. What we do now, we do so that someday mercy will be able to survive here."
"But the children." Nicolae`s voice was as empty as a boyar`s promise.
"You said you would follow me to the ends of the earth."
"God`s wounds, Lada," he whispered, shaking his head. "Someday you will go further then I can follow."

"Do you still believe in me?" he asked, suddenly the boy at the fountain again. His brown eyes were warm and alive, the cold distance of the sultan gone."
"I do," Radu answered. "I always will." It was the truth. He knew Mehmd would build something truly amazing. He knew that Constantinople needed to fall for Mehmed to hold on to his empire. He knew that Mehmed was the greatest sultan his people had ever known. But, like his love for Mehmed, it was no longer simple.
Radu had seen what it took to be great, and he never again wanted to be part of something bigger than himself.