“They camped that night under a full moon and a sky crowded with stars that made Froi forget that there was an old man waiting to die and remember that there was a kingdom dying to live.”

“Land?' Froi whispered. 'You're giving them land? I'm not worth the valley.''You're worth a kingdom,' Finnikin said, turning back to the crowd.”

“Despite the voice in his head that says he doesn’t want anything that’s owed to his father, Tom can’t wait to get his hands on it.“Just take it. Hit your old man over the head with it. You’re dying to.”

“Don’t look down,’ Perabo warned them when they almost reached the top and the view from the archways became imposing. Froi sensed Perabo was instructing himself more than the others.‘You obviously haven’t been imprisoned on the roof of a castle in the Citavita, Perabo,’ Lirah said.‘Or hung upside down over a balconette staring down into the gravina, waiting to die,’ Gargarin added.‘Nothing worse than being chained to the balconette with your head facing down over that abyss,’ Arjuro joined in, not one to be outdone in the misery stakes.‘Try balancing on a piece of granite between the godshouse and the palace with nothing beneath you but air,’ Froi said.Perabo stopped and took a deep breath and looked as if he was going to be sick.‘Don’t look down, Perabo,’ Froi advised.”

“Living is the challenge. Not dying. Dying is so easy. Sometimes it only takes ten seconds to die. But living? That can take you eighty years and you do something in that time.”

“But then Froi looked back to where his work lay unfinished and it made him sad because there had been something about the touch of earth in his hands that made him feel worthwhile.”

“Tell me about the farm," she pleaded as drops of blood began to appear on her hand. "The farm?""The farm that Finnikin the peasant would have lived on with his bride.""Evanjalin. That was her name. Did I mention that?"She laughed through a sob. "No, you didn't.""They would plant rows upon rows of wheat and barley, and each night they would sit under the stars to admire what they owned. Oh, and they would argue. She believes the money made would be better spent on a horse, and he believes they need a new barn. But then later they would forget all their anger and he would hold her fiercely and never let her go.""And he'd place marigolds in her hair?" she asked. He clasped her hands against his and watched her blood seep through the lines of his skin. "And he would love her until the day he died," he said.”