“Don't be frightened,' he murmured into her ear. 'I will protect you.'Lara sighed deeply. A Prince - promising to protect her. Yes please.”

“I want to be......A prince......Not a Princess!I don't want to be protected! When I'm a prince I'll do the protecting!”

“I don't need protection." Not that she minded, of course. She always protected. It's what she did every moment of the day, and that small span of time when he'd protected her had been, well like a present."Don't need it, no." He gave her the coordinates, and she got moving. "Deservie it, yes.”

“You promised you would protect her Nico said. He might as well have stabbed me with a rusty dagger.It would've hurt less than reminding me of my promise.”

“Yes, Mo would come. Meggie could think of nothing else as Fenoglio led her away with him, his arm around her as if he could really protect her from Capricorn and Basta and all the others. But he couldn't. Would Mo be able to protect her? Of course not. He mustn't come, she thought. Please. Perhaps he won't be able to find his way in again! He mustn't come. Yet there was nothing she wanted more, nothing in the whole wide world.”

“Gregori made certain she wanted to fight. He whispered to her in his most beguiling voice, promised a fascinating future, lured her with the secrets and beauty of the universe awaiting her. He promised she would never be left alone; he would be there to guide her, to protect her, to see to her happiness.”