“While he gave Ella enormous credit for summing the situation so succinctly, part of him was still waiting for her to crumple on the floor in a heap. “Yes it does. But please, don’t be frightened–”“Oh pack it in,” she snapped, re-lacing the top of her bodice. “You’re not marrying a wilting sunflower you know.”

“You do realize that if anything happens to you, my son will be devastated?”Ella’s throat closed. She really didn’t want to think about James, not when he was in so much danger. She nodded. “I know.”“Then make sure nothing happens to you. This Kingdom needs a Queen who can show these men we’re not all delicate little flowers.”

“When all was said and done, Ella was but a maiden, a member of the fairer sex. It was a well-known fact that women were ill-equipped to deal with matters of importance, had nervous dispositions and were liable to swoon at the sight of blood. It was a man’s duty to protect his womenfolk from the horror that life could throw.”

“It’s a shame you’re going to the ball. I will be all alone in my big house. It seems a shame to waste it – after all, if the undead are going to kill me, I’d hate to die a spinster and a virgin.”

“For the briefest of moments his eyes sparkled before dimming again. “However much I would love to get into a discussion about chastity belts, now is not the time. The people we were fighting were not human in the strictest sense of the word.”

“No, time has silverted the dark sheen of her hair, and thickened her body, and lined the corners of her eyes and her lips.He saw in them the hints of the smile he loved, and knew, to be fair, that time had been no kinder to him. Or perhaps, it had been just as kind; for she did not look the part of a young girl, and she was not: she was stronger, wiser, and more just than the fear of youth allowed; she gave him the shelter that he needed, on the rare occasions that that need drove him. She trusted him, always; she looked up to him, still; he strove, in every way, to continue to live up to her expectation. She was the one person in his life he did not wish to disappoint. ”

“For EARTH which is an intelligence hath a voice and a propensity to speak in all her parts.”