“I live in the present because the future is always chancy. When it comes to being with you, I'm willing to take the risk.”

“The time will come when you will be forced to make a choice,” Hanalea said. “When that time comes, choose love.”

“And it's not just a matter of you hurting me. I will hurt you too, even if I don't want to, I'm not the girl you think I am. And you will remember this conversation , and wish that you'd listened to me.”

“Jason settled back on the bench. 'I hate to break this to you, but as a rule, wizards are nasty people. They're powerful, capricious, ruthless, egotistical, used to getting their own way. That's being kind.”

“Raisa felt relieved, yet oddly disappointed. She was the blooded princess heir, yet in servants' clothes she was apparently unrecognizable. In the stories, rulers had a natural presence about them that identified them as such, even dressed in rags.What's the nature of royalty, she wondered. Is it like a gown you put on that disappears when you take it off? Does anyone look beyond the finery? Could anyone in the queendom take her place, given the right accessories? If so, it was contrary to everything she'd ever been taught about bloodlines.”

“The bluejacket girlie rode like a clan warrior, but there was no way she'd escape. It was a private life-and-death contest that had nothing to do with him.He told himself he should ride on, grateful that the chase would keep them occupied while he took a different path.But what had he told Rebecca when she'd asked what he meant to do when he returned to the Fells?'I'm tired of people in power picking on the weak. I'm going to help them.”

“You can't always pick where you fight, or who you fight...or even...how you fight. But do the picking...whenever you can.”