“Great seas," he said."What do you want?"He held the candle up to her face."Po, what do you want?""She did a far better job than I would've done.”

“Have you ever known there was something you needed to do, but found yourself dreading it with everything you were?" "Once or twice," he said."What did you do?"Runach looked at her steadily. "I did what needed to be done.""Was the price steep?""Very."Aisling clutched her own bow, wishing her task was nothing more than learning to place an arrow where she wanted it to land. "Did you ever want to run?" She whispered.He smiled, but it was a pained smile. "I'm not sure I want to answer that." "Do you think Heroes ever want to run...?""Only if they come from Neroche."She blinked, then smiled.”

“I didn't say I was done with you. You think you want to sleep with me? Let me show you what happens to girls who wake up in my room,' Freddie said. He saw the fear in her face, but she obeyed. They always did.”

“The whole thing’s absurd,” he said. “Your sister married a duke. I told Clevedon . . .” he trailed off.“What did you tell him?”“Never mind that now,” he said.“I certainly will mind it now,” she said.“Do you want to find Clara or do you want to quarrel?” he said.“Preferably both,” she said.”

“I had an uneventful few days," it told her. "The most exciting thing was an hour-long lecture from the headmaster on taking our studies seriously. He said next year's exam will arrive sooner than we think.""No, they won't," Valkyrie said, frowning. "They'll arrive next year, exactly when we expect them.""That's what I told him," the reflection nodded. "I don't think he's comfortable with logic, because he didn't look happy. He sent me to the Career Guidance counsellor, who asked me what I wanted to do after college."Valkyrie stowed her black clothes. "What did you say?""I told her I wanted to be a Career Guidance counsellor. She started crying, then accused me of mocking her. I told her if she wasn't happy in her job then she should look at other options, then pointed out that I was already doing her job better than she was. She gave me detention.”

“I want the brand gone, Cecile," Lesharo said quietly. “I have no wish to have Ducharme’s mark on me. If you will not permit Pierre to do this, will you do it?”“Ducharme said I should put my own mark on you,” she recalled, turning her face away at the memory. “I cannot do what he did.”“His mark is the mark of a pani, set upon me by a man who was less than an animal. I would proudly bear the scar you gave me, for it will be something done to me in friendship.”