“...I can't abide snakes.""I don't even think of her as a snake.""Ce'Nedra," he said patiently, "she's long and skinny, she wriggles, she doesn't have any arms or legs, and she's poisonous. By definition, she's a snake." "...I'm bitterly disappointed in you, Prince Kheldar. She's a sweet, loving, brave little creature, and you're insulting her." He looked at her for a moment, then rose to his feet and bowed floridly to the earthenware bottle. "I'm dreadfully sorry, dear Zith," he apologized. "I can't think what came over me. Can you possible find it in your cold little green heart to forgive me?"Zith hissed at him, a hiss ending in a curious grunt."She says to leave her alone," Sadi told him."Can you really understand what she's saying?""In a general sort of way, yes. Snakes have a very limited vocabulary, so it's not all that difficult to pick up a few phrases here and there." The eunuch frowned. "She's been swearing a great deal lately, though, and that's not like her. She's usually a very ladylike little snake.""I can't believe I'm actually involved in this conversation," Silk said, shaking his head and going off down the hall toward the back of the house.”

“Oh, well," Silk said wryly, "we might as well get it out into the open, I suppose. Gentlemen," he said, "I'm sure you all remember the Margravine Liselle, my fiancee.""Your fiancee?" Barak exclaimed in amazement."We all have to settle down sometime." Silk shrugged.They all gathered around to congratulate him. Velvet, however, did not look pleased."Was something the matter, dear?" Silk asked her, all innocence."Don't you think you've forgotten something, Kheldar?" she asked acidly."Not that I recall.""You neglected to ask me about this first.""Really? Did I actually forget that? You weren't planning to refuse, were you?""Of course not.""Well, then --""You haven't heard the last of this, Kheldar," she said ominously."I seem to be getting off to a bad start here," he observed."Very bad," she agreed.”

“She remembered the story from her childhood, about Adam and Eve in the garden, and the talking snake. Even as a little girl she had said - to the consternation of her family - What kind of idiot was Eve, to believe a snake? But now she understood, for she had heard the voice of the snake and had watched as a wise and powerful man had fallen under its spell.Eat the fruit and you can have the desires of your heart. It's not evil, it's noble and good. You'll be praised for it.And it's delicious.”

“Your extensive travels must have been fatiguing," Zakath said in that same flat tone, "particularly for the ladies. I'll see to it that your return journey to Mal Zeth is made in easy stages." "Your Majesty is very kind, but we're not going back to Mal Zeth.""You're wrong, Belgarion. You are going back to Mal Zeth.""Sorry, I've got a pressing engagement elsewhere.""I'll convey your regrets to Zandramas when I see her.""I'm sure she'd be overjoyed to hear that I'm not coming.""Not for very long, she won't. I fully intent to have her burned as a witch.""Good luck, your Majesty, but I don't think you'll find that she's very combustible.”

“Mimbrates are the bravest people in the world --probably because they don't have brains enough to be afraid of anything. Garion's friend Mandorallen is totally convinced that he's invincible.""He is," Ce'Nedra said in automatic defense of her knight. "I saw him kill a lion once with his bare hands.""...I heard him suggest to Barak and Hettar once that the three of them attack an entire Tolnedran legion.""Perhaps he was joking.""Mimbrate knights don't know how to joke," Silk told him."I will not sit here and listen to you people insult my knight," Ce'Nedra said hotly."We'renot insulting hi, Ce'Nedra," Silk told her. "We're describing him. He's so noble he makes my hair hurt.""Nobility is an alien concept to a Drasnian, I suppose," she noted."Not alien, Ce'Nedra. Incomprehensible.”

“She tries to move toward him, but the path is covered with gravel, which slows her down. Then he turns his head and sees her. He puts down his brush and comes closer, and the closer he comes, the closer he comes, the happier she is she didn't put on mascara, she doesn't want to cry but she can't help it, she can hardly see him through the welling tears. She quickly wipes her eyes. She looks at him. He's standing two steps away. She could stretch out her hand, he'd come even closer, she could touch him. He's the same, thinner, the most beautiful man in the world, with the eyes Germain Pire described to her, a very pale blue, almost gray, quiet and gentle, with something struggling in their depths, a child, a soul of agony. His voice hasn't changed.The first thing she hears him say--it's terrible--he asks her, "You can't walk?" She shakes her head. He sighs, goes back to his painting. She pushes the wheels, moves toward the shed. He looks over at her again, he smiles. "You want to see what I'm doing?" She nods her head. "I'll show you in a little bit," he says. "But not right now, it's not finished."So while she waits, she sits up straight in her scooter, she crosses her hands in her lap, she looks at him. Yes, she looks at him, she looks at him, life is long and can still carry a great deal more on its back.She looks at him.”

“I note this hound of thine, Sir Knight," he said to Garion to ease them past an embarrassing moment, "a bitch, I perceive--""Steady," Garion said firmly to the she-wolf. "That is a very offensive term," she growled."He didn't invent it. It's not his fault.""...Canst thou perhaps, Sir Knight, identify her breed?""She is a wolf, my Lord," Garion told him."A wolf!" the baron exclaimed, leaping to his feet. "We must flee ere the fearsome beast fall upon us and devour us."It was a bit ostentatious, but sometimes thing like that impress people. Garion reached down and scratched the wolf's ears."...Ones advises that you stop that," the wolf told him, "unless you have a paw to spare.""You wouldn't!" he exclaimed, snatching his hand back."But you're not entirely sure, are you?" She bared her teeth almost in a grin.”