Jennifer A. Nielsen

“Do you laugh at me?"He was quiet for a moment and finally the tention drained from him. "No, Jaron," he said darkly. "I curse you with every breath I exhale, but I do not laugh.”

“Long live king Jaron. If he leads us half as well as he entertains us, then Carthya has a truly great future ahead.”

“Let's begin with an easy agreement. Before his death, your father and I were negotiating for a small area of land on our borders, near Libeth. The Carthyan land has a spring that my farmers need for their crops. Carthya has other spings nearby, so you won't miss it.""My father wouldn't have missed it, but I would," I said, with no actual idea of what spring he meant. "It happens to be my favourite water source in all of Carthya, and I won't part with it.”

“I won't start the battle, but if it comes, I'll finish it.”

“You're such a young king. I barely remember being your age.""Then clearly we're talking about how old you are, not how young I am.”

“The pirates wanted my life, Vargen wanted my country, and my regents wanted to paint rainbows over reality and claim all was well.”

“Her eyes scanned the dark skies. "Did it rain? Why are you all wet?""A nighttime bath.""Fully dressed?""I'm modest.”

“This is for you." i pressed the stone in Kerwyn's hand.Kerwyn turned it over in his hands, unimpressed. "imatator's gold? It's worthless.""No, it's real gold. I am real Kerwyn."... He pulled a creased and worn paper from his pocket and unfolded it. His hands shook increasingly as he read it. Then he turned to the audience and said,"This note was given to me by King Eckbert ... to read it only if someone ever came forward claiming to be the prince. This is what it says." He read aloud,"'Many may one day claim to be the lost prince of Carthya. ...You will know the Prince Jaron by one sign alone. He will give you the humblest of rocks and tell you it's gold.'"..."Lords and ladies of Carthya, I present to you the son of King Eckbert and Queen Erin. He is the lost royal of Carthya, who lives and stands before you. Hail, Prince Jaron.”

“And you're the biggest coward," I hissed, then caught my breath in my throat as his blade cut deeper."Don't call me a coward," Tobias said, "I'm not!""Have you come here to kill me?" I asked. "Because I'll scream when you do and it'll wake up the princess and probably a whole lot of other people and you'll get into trouble.""You'll be dead.""Yes, but you'll be in trouble.”

“That brought a faint smile to my face. "Then let's hope Conner chooses Roden, so that Carthya has some hope of an honerable king.”

“Carthya's not my country," I said, reaching for the doors to leave. "Frankly, I hope Avenia Destroys it”

“Conner answered, "Mrs. Turbeldy warned me that you have a history of running away. Where did you go?" To the church of course. To confess my sins.”

“Darius was dead, and very soon she and I would meet as equals. But i had the feeling it wouldn't be a day she ended up celebrating”

“No, my lady. If I cannot look at you as an equal, i will not look at you at all”

“Everyone gets scared at times. It's only the fools who won't admit it.”

“Is it true?" Devlin asked me. "You're Prince Jaron?""KING Jaron, actually. News must travel slower amongst the illiterate." I glared at Gregor with every inch of disdain I felt. "Shouldn't you be groveling to me or bowing or something?" Gregor smiled. "I think before I have the chance, you will already be dead.""Ah. So much for all your toasts to my long life.”

“You should thank me for tolerating you. I had hoped that becoming a royal would cure your foul manners.""That's interesting. My father hoped that stripping me of royalty would do the same thing.”

“You'll address me by my title," I said sharply. "And bow until your pointed chin scrapes the floor.”

“As they began to tie me, I wanted to yell out, to release some of my fear that way, but I held it in. Imogen wouldn't be that far from here yet, and I didn't want her to know what was about to happen.If it was possible to scream on the inside, though, I was, and the sound of it was deafening.”

“Above all else, I think that you are a compulsive liar."My laughter was tense, but sincere. "Hardly. In fact, I consider myself a compulsive truth teller. It's only that everyone else seems compelled to misunderstand me.”

“And I want you to find something in the hills for the vigils to protect, like a rock or a thornbush. I don't want them around here.”

“The saddest thing is there won’t be anyone to miss us when we’re gone. No family, no friends, no one waiting at home.”“It’s better that way,” I said. “It’ll be easier for me, knowing my death doesn’t add to anyone’s pain.”“If you can’t give anyone pain, then you can’t give them joy either.”

“My hands folded into fists. "As king, that is my order.""Forgive me, but the king's order is the most reckless thing he's ever said, which we both know is quite an accomplishment. If you want to stop me from dragging you back to Drylliad, then you'll have to kill me here.""I can't do that," I said. "Who'll make sure Tobias gets back safely? He can hardly cross a road without endangering himself.""I can too," Tobias said.”

“I thought you were from a civilized country," he said. "How have you come to look more like Carthya's whipping boy than its king?""I have a habit of irritating some of our less civilized people," I answered. "But you seem like a civilized...pirate. I'd much prefer it if you didn't have me whipped.""And why shouldn't I?"With some effort, I forced a smile to my face. "Because it will hurt.”

“You wouldn't want to be king of my country," I said. "Why is that?""Well, you're rather fat. I doubt you'd fit onto my throne.”

“By now, Gregor had recovered. "Sage? Devlin, forgive my accusation, but you are a fool. Don't you know who this is?"Devlin didn't appear to forgive the accusation. With a sneer on his face, he folded his arms and said, "Enlighten me."Gregor looked at me and frowned. "He can perform the Avenian accent as well as his own Carthyan tongue. And although he has a reputation for being able to steal the white off snow if he chooses to, this boy is far from being a mere thief. Devlin, you are facing the boy who has haunted the pirates for the past four years. This is Jaron, the lost prince of Carthya.”

“If I had to do it over again, I would not have chosen this life. Then again, I'm not sure I ever had a choice.”

“There's an old saying in Avenia that goes, "Just because it's calmer than a hailstorm doesn't mean it's calm.”

“I've got to go." "Go where?" "To go. I'd have just taken care of it myself, but it looks like you want to come along." Mott cursed. "Wait for morning." "Wish I could. I've been cursed with my mother's pea-size bladder.”

“You are the biggest fool of a boy I've ever known," Mott said. Then his tone softened. "But you will serve Carthya well.""I wish I felt ready to do this," I said. "The closer we come to the moment, the more I see every defect in my character that caused my parents to send me away in the first place.""From all I'm told, the prince they sent away was selfish, mischievous, and destructive. The king who returns is courageous, noble, and strong.""And a fool," I addedMott chuckled. "You are that too.”

“Kneel, please," Connor said. "I wish to study you better."Come as close to me as you'd like," I answered. "Study me here, on my feet.""You won't kneel?""Would a prince?"Conner raised his voice. "You're not a prince until I say so.""I don't need you to say so, sir. As you see me standing here, I am the prince of Carthya.”

“Once Conner was dragged out of the room, I directed the musicians to play. Then, exhausted, I fell into my father's throne. No, my throne. I was king now. The reality of that was incomprehensible.”

“In a crowd of a thousand boys claiming to be the prince, there would be only one with the same look of trouble in his eye.”

“This is real, then?" Jaron's heart pounded, though he couldn't tell whether it was from sadness or fear for his future. "When you leave, I'm no longer Prince Jaron. I'll be nothing but a commoner. An orphan.”

“Afraid of a wooden sword?""Just demonstrating my skills in evading an attack. Impressed?”

“I never denied being a fool. That's the difference between us.”

“You stole it from the master.""Who stole it from me. What I did simply set the universe back in order.”

“If he put us in dresses, we wouldn't suddenly become women”

“Get me a real chair”

“You eat with your left hand. That's unacceptable. Can you do it with your right?""Can you do it with your left?”

“A person can be educated and still be stupid, and a wise man can have no education at all.”

“Hail His Majesty, the scourge of my life," Conner said to Roden and Tobias as he stomped up the stairs. "I fear the devils no longer, because I have the worst of them right here in my home!”

“Master Graves was incensed and said, as punishment for my disruption, I would have to write my letters an extra ten times that day."Ten times the better I'll know them, then." I said. "How strange that you should punish me by ensuring I come out more educated than Roden, who has tried to obey you.”