“It was not until the original Primus threw down all who opposed him, carrying out brutal war in the name of establishing peace, that they began to come to their senses. To build something greater. To lay the foundations of the Realm as you know it today.'" She put a hand on his shoulder. "Laws. Justice. Art. The pursuit of knowledge. It all came from a single source." "The ability to kill," whispered Tavi. "Strength is the first virtue," Alera said. "That is not a pleasant fact. Its distastefulness does not alter the truth that without strength to protect them, all other virtues are ephemeral, ultimately meaningless.”
Book:First Lord's Fury
