“I won't lie to you. There is always a cost. All I can gurantee is that it will be the right thing.""It's insane," he says, but without vehemence."It's faith," I say.”

“You faced him down like a seasoned warrior," he [Hector] says. "Only because I had your daggers at my back.”

“I knew someday you would realize your worth. Your worthiness.'I shake my head. 'Oh Ximena, he was right to choose me but not becuase of my worth...You, Cosme, Hector...were already willing to be heroes. But I would have done nothing, become nothing, were it not for this thing inside me. So you see, God picked me becuase I was unworthy.”

“I almost panic then. The pleasure-power feeling flees, replaced by humiliation. It's obvious my husband doesn't recognize his own wife. Yet even in this public place, he can't be bothered to hide his admiration for a woman that he finds attractive. He used to stare at me so intently, like I was the only thing in the world. Have I changed so much? Or maybe that mesmerizing gaze was just a weapon in his arsenal of appeal. Maybe he never actually saw.Anger carries me the remaining distance. He is the one who should feel grimy with shame, not me.”

“May I document your recovery? It's such a devastating and fascinating injury.”

“A quarterstaff is not very subtle. Or handy. If an kidnapper comes at me, what am I supposed to do? Say, 'Excuse me, my lord, while I pull my enormous quarterstaff out of my bodice?”

“Mara hurries over and takes my hands. "Er, congratulations on your pending nuptials?"I whisper, "He'll be so angry when he learns I have engaged us without his knowledge.”