“Were you hoping for a quest? A seemingly impossible task that you could relay to your queen afterward? Would you like to tell her that you found and slayed the dragon for love of her?-Queen Sorcha”

“From shadow queen to puppet queen in one rule," he whispered. "That's very impressive. When he rules your country and he tells you he loves you, I hope you believe him."He anticipated her blow and leaned back. Her hand only brushed his cheek in an entirely unsatisfying manner. "At least that's one lie I didn't tell you.”

“The Queen gave him a look: special and secretive and shared between the two of them.You warned her about us, the look seemed to say.That we would hurt her, break her as you might break a twig between your fingers. But you, who thought you could not be touched — you are the one who has been broken.”

“Put your puppet on the throne." said Talathain. "You may make her Queen but she won’t be Queen for long.”

“I would slay dragons for you,” he told her. “I suspect that finding an unoccupied bedroom will be easier.”

“You would have imagined her at one moment a maniac, at another a queen.”