“What are you going to do now?' She faced him. What I've always wanted. I'm leaving this stupid kingdom to make my fortune, like a prince in one of the tales.'They're not true you know,' Cam said quietly. Meg stared at him for a long, grim moment. Yes they are,' she hissed....Cam spoke in the sudden silence. 'Look, Meg. I'm not saying princes don't have adventures. But I'll bet a lot of them get eaten by the first dragon they com to.”

“You must learn to know the difference between tales and the truth, my Liza, she would say. Fairy tales have a habit of ending too soon. They never show what happens afterwards when the prince and princess ride off the page.”

“The view was breathtaking. Her gaze swept out across the splendid, exciting square. Yes, she could see the horizon, the view so much more sweeping than she had expected. She saw now what Jim had seen, what had been there all the time. So much to do and know, and yes, she could do this. And then she saw something else. A familiar figure, cap pushed back, walking toward her. She saw him moving closer, saw those clear, blue eyes. She heard a laugh-- whose? Her own. And it was all right. She could be right or wrong, but her vow to herself was clear now. She would be strong and not always too careful, not settle for a smaller life, and face what was true. What was true? Perhaps it was here, staring her in the face. "May I help you down?" Jim said. He was standing beneath her now, his hands on the bridle, looking up, his eyes alight. Palms up, arms stretched out, she reached toward him. "Yes," she said.”

“Cam stepped into the clearing. His eyes were rimmed with a thick, shimmering gold shadow, and it shone on his face in the moonlight, making him look like a wildcat.”

“He's not-" Daniel started to say. He watched a red-tailed hawk land in an oak tree over their heads. "He's not good enough for you."Luce had heard people say that line a thousand times before. It was what everyone always said. Not good enough. But when the words passed Daniel's lips, they sounded important, even somehow true and relevant, not vague and dismissive the way the phrase had always sounded to her in the past."Well, then," she said in a quiet voice, "who is?"Daniel put his hands on his hips. He laughed to himself for a long time. "I don't know," he said finally. "That's a terrific question."Not exactly the answer Luce was looking for. "It's not like it's that hard," she said, stuffing her hands into her pockets because she wanted to reach out for him. "To be good enough for me."Daniel's eyes looked like they were falling, all the violet that had been in them a moment before turned a deep, dark gray. "Yes," he said. "Yes, it is.”

“Just getting to first base seems to be a problem for you two," Cam couldn't resist saying.”

“Someday your prince will come," I assure him."And the first thing I'm going to say to him is, 'What took you so long?”