“Are you interested in irrigation? . . . Of course you are, if you are a western man. . . . Irrigation is the creed of the West. Gold brought people to this country; water, scientifically applied, will keep them here.”

“I vow right here and now that you, Bran Llyr are my chosen mate. With the sun, stars, the waters, the air and the earth as my witnesses, I will love you through eternity.”

“No Luminista. He's a young man who loves you but doesn't know how to treat you right yet. You have to show him how. Show him that you can take what he dishes out without crumbling. That you're beautiful and strong, and he should lift you up, not tear you down.”

“He's a jerk."“No Luminista. He's a young man who loves you but doesn't know how to treat you right yet. You have to show him how. Show him that you can take what he dishes out without crumbling. That you're beautiful and strong, and he should lift you up, not tear you down.”

“Is that for me to do my work as the Chosen One, I need Bran to help me. So you must find a way to help him save his wings, or he stays here with us as a demon. If you force him to leave, I leaving with him. If he goes, I go, too.”

“Rhiannon readied her speech. The speech she’d given more than once over the years to Éibhear and, when they were much younger, to her older sons. The one that included things like:“I’m sure your father didn’t mean that.”“Of course your father loves you.”“No. He didn’t try to sell your egg to the highest human bidder.”“And of course, he never tried to kill you while you slept!”

“You may think it odd that there were three men to look after one tiny station, but the people who ran the railway knew that if you left two men together in a lonely place they would quarrel, but if you left three men, two of them could always grumble to each other about the third, and then they would be quite happy.”