“I was secretly entranced with the idea of a lady novelist. I should dearly love to be one. Or maybe a goblin-fighting-pirate-queen. It was difficult to choose sometimes.”

“Maybe all men should have to fight for something sometime in their lives. I'm thirty-three years old and I've never had to fight for a blessed thing, have I?”

“Madlen: 'It's a relief to me, Lady Queen, that in your own pain, you take no interest in hurting yourself.'Bitterblue: 'Why would I? Why should I? It's foolish. I would like to kick the people who do it.'Madlen: 'That would, perhaps, be redundant, Lady Queen.”

“Dragons have sharp talons. Sometimes I don’t get out of the way quickly enough. (Sebastian)Maybe you should fight smaller dragons. (Channon)”

“Ida, dear, please, do I complain? It is right a child should not love the mama the way the mama loves the child; children are ashamed of the love a mama has for them: that is part of it. But when a boy grows into a man it is right his time should be for other ladies.”

“Dear Jack,I love you, too.And I think I know the secret to a long and happy marriage— just choose someone you can't live without.For me, that would be you.So if you insist on being traditional . . .Yes.—Ella”