" Makon stared at the five red stones, then let out an agonizing cry of grief and ran from the room. Shalmanezer laughed and was joined by the other two. “The fool! He’ll probably kill himself, and I’ll be out one slave.” “You don’t need him. You have the girl. That’s all you wanted.” “True enough,” Shalmanezer said. He picked up one of the red stones and smiled fondly at it. “Men are fools,” he said. “That old man had nothing, and now he has even less. "

― Gilbert Morris , Daughter of Deliverance (Lions of Judah #6)