“Maybe not. But maybe that's how the world changes, Isaiah. One father, one child, at a time.”

“It's not being a woman I mind so much," she said slowly. "'Tis the way men seem to always order my life." She leaned earnestly toward him. "Your hand, Papa, has wielded a sword and cradled a child and held power over hundreds of men." She held up her own hand. "This one has far fewer adventures before it.”

“It only takes one man to make a woman a fool.”

“Mattie watched him cross the clearing with long-limbed ease, his movements loose and calm. His hair shone in the sunlight. Her heart caught. Strider.Yes, she loved him. It wasn’t logical or sensible or anything of those other things. He was not the kind of man she’d daydreamed about all of her life, safe and stolid and dependable, but he was the one. The One.”

“His mouth. It touched hers lightly, just touched at first. And it seemed every nerve in her body suddenly rushed toward her mouth to join the explosion of sensation his lips brought. He moved his head and his mouth slid one way, then the other, and his fingers tightened around her neck, pulling her closer.”

“How could you carry the inside of a person with you and not call them a friend, no matter what the rules said?”

“There is so little joy in any life, I will take this time with you until I must go." He smoothed a lock of hair from her face. "In our old age, we'll remember and be glad.”