“This is fun, Caz! Miris said. I've never had anyone try to steal me before.”

“Miris dipped her head and inflicted a small, but painful, nip on the stranger's left arm. A startled yelp replaced his laughter. Then, it rang out again. "By all the gods, you even have your lovely mare trained to keep horse thieves in line!”

“Open your mind to the magic and you shall walk in the realm of reality. Close your mind and you shall walk forever in illusion.”

“I have a feeling this is more dangerous than hoeing potatoes in the hot sun.”

“In the past, Pracilla had always thought that the smarter and more successful you were, the more you didn't need other people, the more you could do it all yourself. Pracilla had never asked anyone for anything. Now she was starting to think differently. Maybe the smarter you were, the sooner you recognised you were in trouble and asked for help.”

“It hadn't occurred to me that my mother would die. Until she was dying, the thought had never entered my mind. She was monolithic and insurmountable, the keeper of my life.”

“She tried to think of what to say to make it all better again, or at least the way it was before she'd made her confession, though she didn't regret having confessed. Perhaps that was what had been wrong with her all along. Now that the lie wasn't between them anymore, maybe she could love him again.”