“I decided a long time ago what kind of man I wanted to be. I’ve sworn oaths to your family, but it is the promises a man makes to himself that he must keep.”
– Fulton, The Providence of Fire
Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne, by Brian Staveley

…this is one of those times where there’s not really anything I can add, is there?

It’s a simple declaration from a lifelong soldier, the guardian of a princess, all the more profound for the simplicity.

Fulton is a man of honor because he chose to be one early in life. He keeps his word, he fulfills his duty. It has nothing to do with what others have demanded of him. It has everything to do with what he demands of himself. He is the one who decided that breaking his oaths would be unacceptable, no matter the circumstance. He is the one who decided that, if necessary, he would die to keep his sacred honor and see his duty clear. Eventually, he does exactly that.

That is the honor of soldiers, and the honor of a man: simple, unvarnished, inviolate integrity.