“He smiled at me . . . fondly. ʺAh, my daughter,ʺhe said. ʺEighteen, and already youʹve been accused of murder, aided felons, and acquired a death count higher than most guardianswill ever see.ʺ He paused. ʺI couldnʹt be prouder.ʺ”

“Ah, my daughter,ʺ he said. ʺEighteen, and already youʹve been accused of murder, aided felons, and acquired a death count higher than most guardians will ever see.ʺ He paused. ʺI couldnʹt be prouder.”

“Eighteen, and already you've been accused of murder, aided felons, and acquired a death count higher than most guardians will ever see. I couldn't be prouder.”

“He said he loved me,” she whispered.Daniel swallowed, and he had the strangest sensation, almost a premonition of what it must like to be a parent.Someday, God willing, he’d have a daughter, and that daughter would look like the woman standing in front of him, and if ever she looked at him with that bewildered expression, whispering, “He said he loved me . . .”Nothing short of murder would be an acceptable response.”

“ʺYour hair was beautiful too. All of you. You were amazingwhen we first met, and somehow, inexplicably, youʹve come even farther. Youʹve alwaysbeen pure, raw energy, and now you control it. Youʹre the most amazing woman Iʹve evermet, and Iʹm glad to have had that love for you in my life. I regret losing it.ʺ He grewpensive. ʺI would give anything—anything—in the world to go back and change history.To run into your arms after Lissa brought me back. To have a life with you. Itʹs too late,of course, but Iʹve accepted it.ʺ”

“Dorothea, he said to himself, was for ever enthroned in his soul: no other woman could sit higher than her footstool...”