“Lyon knew she wasn't aware she was being watched, either. She wouldn't have eaten the leaf otherwise, or reached for another. “Sir, which one is Princess Christina?” Andrew asked Lyon, just as Rhone started in choking on his laughter. Rhone has obviously been watching Christina, too. “Sir?”“The blond-headed one,” Lyon muttered, shaking his head. He watched in growing disbelief as Christina daintily popped another leaf into her mouth. “Which blond-headed one?” Andrew persisted.“The one eating the shrubs.”

“– Diana: “Christina said the strangest thing.” – Lyon: “Of course she did.”

“She didn't have any intention of crying. The tears caught her by surprise. She knew she was behaving like a child, that she was being terribly foolish and emotional, but she didn't know how to stop herself."Judith?" His thumb brushed away one of the tears on her cheek. "Tell me why you're crying.""There weren't any flowers. Iain, there should have been flowers."Her voice had been so soft, he wasn't certain he understood her. "Flowers?" he asked."Where weren't there any flowers?"He waited for her to explain, but she stubbornly remained silent. He squeezed her."In the chapel.""What chapel?""The one you don't have," she answered.”

“Your eyes have turned as black as a Crow’s,” she blurted out.He didn’t even blink over her bizarre comment. “Not this time, Christina,” he said in a furious whisper. “Compliments won’t get me off balance again, my little temptress. I swear to God, if you ever again dismiss me so casually, I’m going to––”“Oh, it wasn’t a compliment,” Christina interrupted, letting him see her irritation. “How presumptuous of you to think it was. The Crow is our enemy.”

“She couldn't believe what she did then. Before she could stop herself, she leaned up on tiptoes, put her arms around his neck, and kissed him on the mouth. Her lips brushed over his for the barest of seconds, but it was still a kiss, and when she came to her senses and dared to pull away and look at him, he had the most curious expression on his face.Brodick knew she regretted her sponatenity, but as he stared into her brilliant green eyes, he also knew, with a certainty that shook him to the core, that his life had just been irrevocably changed by this mere slip of a woman.”

“You wouldn't let him do it, would you, Jamie?"Jamie's expression was very serene. She stared at Andrew when she spoke to her husband."With your permission, I would like to answer him.""You have it," Alec replied."Andrew," she called out in a voice as cold and clear as a frigid winter morning, "myhusband does whatever he wishes to do. I am sometimes allowed to help, though. If hedecides to cut off your feet, I will, of course, offer him my assistance.”

“What are you doing?""What I've wanted to do for a long time."She couldn't move, couldn't think. She was lost in his dark eyes, and as he slowly lowered his head toward hers, she whispered, "Are you going to throttle me, then?"He was laughing when he kissed her.”