“Well, Luce, my dear, you may have gone to boarding school parties, but you've never seen a throw-down like reform school kids do it.”

“You know, Roland and I were just talking about how we don't have any pyromaniac friends. And everyone knows you need a good pyro to pull off any reform school prank worth the effort.”

“And while Luce dreamed below of the most glorious wings unfurling-the likes of which she'd never seen before-two angels in the rafters shook hands.”

“Do you ever feel like 'nothing' has happened to you? Like you know you have a destiny, but all you've seen of life so far is unexceptional? I want my life to be different. I want to feel that it's begun. I'm waiting for 'that' kiss.”

“So I'll be careful-""There is no careful. You are a bull in the china shop of love.You'll have no way of knowing what you've broken or how precious it may be.Any change you enact is not going to be obvious. There will be no great sign reading IF YOU VEER RIGHT,YOU SHALL BE A PRINCESS, VERSUS IF YOU VEER LEFT,YOU'LL REMAIN A SCULLERY MAID FOREVER.""Come on,Roland,don't you think I have slightly loftier goals than ending up a princess?" Luce said sharply."I could venture a guess that there is a curse you want to put an end to?"Luce blinked at him,feeling stupid."Right,then,best of luck!" Roland laughed brightly.”

“You've circled the globe to find yourself in the Globe,milady." Bill sketched a little bow."The Globe Theatre?" Luce ducked as the woman in front of her discarded a gnawed-on turkey leg by tossing it over her shoulder. "You mean, like, Shakespeare?""Well, he claims to be retired. You know those artist types. So moody." Bill swooped down near the ground, tugging at the hem of her dress and humming to himself."Othello happened here," Luce said, taking a moment to let it all sink in. "The Tempest. Romeo and Juliet. We're practically standing in the center of all the greatest love stories ever written.""Actually,you're standing in walnut shells.""Why do you have to be so glib about everything? This is amazing!""Sorry,I didn't realize we'd need a moment of bardolatry." His words came out lisped because of the needle clipped between his jagged teeth. "Now stand still.""Ouch!" Luce yelped as he jabbed sharply into her kneecap. "What are you doing?""Un-Anachronizing you.These folks'll pay good money for a freak show, but they're expecting it to stay onstage.”

“Eh? How 'bout that?" Bill nudged her. "Did I promise to show you love or did I promise to show you love?""Sure,they seem like they're in love." Luce shrugged. "But-""But what?Do you have any idea how painful that is? Look at that guy. He makes getting inked look like being caressed by a soft breeze."Luce squirmed on the branch. "Is that the lesson here? Pain equals love?""You tell me," Bill said. "It may surprise you to hear this,but the ladies aren't exactly banging down Bill's door.""I mean,if I tattooed Daniel's same on my body would that mean I loved him more than I already do?""It's a symbol,Luce." Bill let out a raspy sigh. "You're being too literal. Think about it this way: Daniel is the first good-looking boy LuLu has ever seen. Until he washed ashore a few months ago, this girl's whole world was her father and a few fat natives.""She's Miranda," Luce said, remembering the love story from The Tempest, which she'd read in her tenth-grade Shakespeare seminar."How very civilized of you!" Bill pursed his lips with approval. "They are liek Ferdinand and Miranda: The handsome foreigner shipwrecks on her shores-""So,of course it was love at first sight for LuLu," Luce murmured. This was what she was afraid of: the same thoughtless,automatic love that had bothered her in Helston."Right," Bill said. "She didn't have a choice but to fall for him.But what's interesting here is Daniel. You see, he didn't have to teach her to craft a woven sail, or gain her father's trust by producing a season's worth of fish to cure,or exhibit C"-Bill pointed at the lovers on the beach-"agree to tattoo his whole body according to her local custom.It would have been enough if Daniel had just shown up.LuLu would have loved him anyway.""He's doing it because-" Luce thought aloud. "Because he wants to earn her love.Because otherwise,he would just be taking advantage of their curse. Because no matter what kind of cycle they're bound to,his love for her is...true.”