“Are you going to apologize for slapping me?""No.""I didn't think so," he said.”

“I growled and then slapped him."Hey!" His hand pressed to his cheek."You always say that when I slap you," I said."I think it's a problem that you know what I say when you slap me," he said. "That's not the kind of intimacy I'm looking for.”

“My father, I never knew, except for this one time when he threw a ball and told me to go fetch it."Dad," I said. "Am I a dog?""Lydia," he said. "I apologize.”

“I didn't think about being king,” he said, his voice hoarse.Eddis stared. “Your capacity to land yourself in a mess because you didn't think first, Eugenides, will never cease to amaze me. What do you mean you didn't think about being king? Is Attolia going to marry you and move into my library?”

“You should come with me.""What? I'm not going anywhere with you!""I think you should," he replied."And why would I do that? You just told me you're following me!""No, I didn't. I said someone was following you. I was following them.”

“I must apologize for calling so late," said he, "and I must further beg you to be so unconventional as to allow me to leave your house presently by scrambling over your back garden wall.”