“The time of testing, and of playing, was over. This was the final duel for one of them. Now they were fighting for their lives--for the one life that would emerge from this elegant battle. . . . For the moment the two of them were evenly matched, arm against arm. Michael prayed that it would never stop, that there would always be this moment of utter mastery, beautiful and rare, and no conclusion ever be reached.”

“And Ferris had watched Alec go past him out of the door noted the bones...but he never would have connected that ragged man with the honey-and-acid creature who'd insulted him at Diane's house.”

“Richard knew he was fighting for his life, and he was terribly happy.”

“But I saw the pair of them, along with everyone else. Hard to miss. Him towering like a raggedy scarecrow in that flapping black scholar's gown, and the sword always quiet next to him, sweet as honey, and poison with it.”

“Have you seen Marcus?" he asked his ugly friend."Yes, he was stoping some people in the Violet Room from climbing the curtains.""What for?""They were not professionals.""Oh.”

“Across the troubled maelstrom of time, people always need a beer.”

“He said, 'They're only whores,' as though their very availability rendered them worthless.”