“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“My love, why did you leave me on Lexington Avenue in the Ford that had no brakes?It stalled in the traffic and broke down outside her window. She was writing a letter: I love you very much: Careful Now in capitals.That was a different letter.Yes, but I get confused. One day she saw a golden oriel in the orchard. One day she said, Then have your orgy with Blondie, work out your passion on her.I see it all, the poop of burnished gold. If I got angry and made a scene?But No. No.No, I believe you, of course, I believe you for didn't you say I was the one? Yes, you said, Take care of this girl for she is what makes my blood circulate and all the stars revolve and the seasons return.This was my dream, and why I had circles under my eyes this morning at breakfast. Everyone noticed it, and I think one of them sniggered.You don't take much interest in politics, do you? You never read the newspapers? I drank my coffee, but I had a slight feeling of nausea. It's to be expected, I don't mind it at all, it's nothing.My love, are you feeling better?He can't talk, he can only mutter.O my dear, O my dear, drink a little milk, lie down and rest a little. I will comfort you. I can carry love like Saint Christopher. It is heavy, but I can carry it. It's the stones of suspicion I stumble on. Did I say suspicion? No.No. No. It's nothing. I love you. A slight feeling of nausea, that's all.After a while I got out into the open air, and his face was the moon hanging in the snowy branches.”

“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.”

“Do you know what it is?' [Toby] said thoughtfully. 'It's that they haven't had anything really awful happen to them. No wonder they seem so superficial and unfeeling.' It was certainly an interesting theory, ... [but] surely one didn't need to have suffered in order to possess empathy for those who had? All it required was a bit of imagination and a well-stocked library.”