“Lena's real mom, Emily, knew that this was not the truth, but she also knew that Vaclav was not lying.Vaclav knew that he was telling the truth.Lena knew that it was a lie, but she loved it and believed it, like a fairy tale, like a song, like a bedtime story, like a magic trick.She loved Vaclav until it became the truth and so it was.”

“She always did like tales of adventure-stories full of brightness and darkness. She could tell you the names of all King Arthur's knights, and she knew everything about Beowulf and Grendel, the ancient gods and the not-quite-so-ancient heroes. She liked pirate stories, too, but most of all she loved books that had at least a knight or a dragon or a fairy in them. She was always on the dragon's side by the way.”

“If she spoke, she would tell him the truth: she was not okay at all, but horribly empty, now that she knew what it was like to be filled.”

“Vaclav has said goodnight to Lena every night since the night she went away. Out loud. In a whisper. [...] He filled the words with all his love and care and worry for Lena and launched them out to her, and like homing pigeons, he trusted them to find her.”

“Simon?”“Yeah?”“Can you tell me a story?”He blinked. “What kind of story?”“Something where the good guys win and the bad guys lose. A nd stay dead.”“So, like a fairy tale?” he said. He racked his brain. He knew only the Disney versions of fairy tales, and the first knew only the Disney versions of fairy tales, and the first image that came to mind was A riel in her seashell bra.He’d had a crush on her when he was eight. Not that this seemed like the time to mention it.“No.” The word was an exhaled breath. “We study fairy tales in school. A lot of that magic is real—but, anyway.No, I want something I haven’t heard yet.”“Okay. I’ve got a good one.” Simon stroked Isabelle’s hair, feeling her lashes flutter against his neck as she closed her eyes. “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…”

“They knew each other. He knew her and so himself, for in truth he had never known himself. And she knew him and so herself, for although she had always known herself she had never been able to recognize it until now.”