“Why does he speak of them that way?" The crow-man wanted to know. "They are humans, just like he is.""I don't think he sees them as just like him." Ally explained."He is foolish then," said Nawat. "There are more raka than Bronaus.”

“You aren't a bit romantic, are you?" he asked, amused.She sat back and stared at him. She was beginning to think that Neal required a keeper. He seemed to have the craziest ideas. "Romance? Isn't that love stuff?" She asked finally."It's more than just love. It's color, and-and fire. You don't want things magnificent and filled with-with grandeur," he said, trying to make her understand. "You know, drama. Importance. Transcendent Passion.""I just want to be a knight," Kel retorted, putting her used tableware on her tray. "Eat your vegetables. They're good for you.”

“He liked me to help him when he did things. He explained what I didn't know, warned me when to stand aside, never told me to get out of his way because he could do it faster, and thanked me for helping. There were moments when he needed me to rescue him, and he never blamed me for it, or got angry about it.”

“Nawat grinned. “I was helping to steal soldiers who couldn't keep up.”“What do you do with them?” she asked, curious. “I haven't heard of bodies being found.”“Nor will you,” Nawat informed her, sitting on a corner of the worktable. “They were still alive when we gave them to my warriors at the edge of the jungle.” He picked up Aly's hand and laced his fingers with hers. “My warriors will be able to say they last saw the missing soldiers alive, when the troops went on a visit to the jungle.”Aly walked her free fingers over their entwined hands. “But why would Crown soldiers visit the jungle?”“They didn't think they would at first,” Nawat admitted. “So my warriors show them the beauties of the deep jungle. They take away all the things the soldiers have of the civilized world, such as clothes and weapons and armor, so the soldiers will appreciate the jungle with their entire bodies. But my warriors have seen jungle before, so they get bored and leave. The soldiers stay longer.”“Like the tax collectors,” Aly whispered, awed by the beauty of what he described. “Take away all they have and leave them to survive the jungle. If you're questioned under truthspell, you can say they were alive when you left them. And the only way they could survive naked out there . . .” Nawat was shaking his head. Aly nodded. “I take it you don't leave them near any trails.”“They are there to appreciate the jungle that has been untouched by humans,” Nawat told her, a teacher to a student who did not quite understand.Aly sighed. “I am limp with envy,” she told him. “Simply limp.”

“Why does this mean so much to you, Jon?"The Prince turned. "Because he's my friend. Because I always know where he stands, and where I stand with him. Because I think he'd die for me and--and I think I'd die for him. Is that enough?”

“it's your own fault for encouraging him..., you know. Now he thinks he's a human being.Neal of Queens cove”

“I love you, Jonathan," she whispered.A long arm snaked around her, and he pulled her against his side."I know," he said. "I just wanted to be sure you knew it, too.”