“I had been caught with one of Prodigium's greatest enemies. Something told me that punishment would be a lot worse than writing a thousand words on some obscure topic.”

“She gave her a reason to write her own words, to see that words had also brought her to life. "Don't punish yourself," she heard her say again, but there would be punishment and pain, and there would be happiness, too. That was writing.”

“There would be a trial, of course. But I had watched a few trials in Thalia, and I had seen people a lot dumber than Hud get away with a lot worse than what he did.”

“Thanks to all the moving around Mom and I had done, I hadn't had a birthday party since I was eight years old. That had been at Chuck E. Cheese. Something told me the Council had something more elaborate in mind."They don't need to do that," I said, shoving my hands into my pockets. "Especially with all that's going on right now."Nick flashed me a wolfish grin. "That's Prodigium for you. Very 'fiddle while Rome burns.”

“Sometimes the silence of your friends is worse than your enemy's words.”

“Which is worse, Hell or nothing? Only if we're caught and punished can we be saved.”