“This is me figuring good behavior is for someone much younger." --Kestrel”

“We are much better able to evaluate someone else's behavior than we are our own.”

“Well, it just figures," Younger told him, like a man explaining his religion.”

“Asleep, he looked a lot younger than going-on-seventeen, but I had noticed that Johnny looked younger when he was asleep too, so I figured everyone did. Maybe people are younger when they are asleep.”

“She slapped Kestrel’s face. Without thinking twice, Kestrel slapped her back, as hard as she could. The young woman burst into tears. The servant saw this, aghast. “Baby!” She exclaimed. “Oh, my poor baby!” “You’ve been kind to me,” said Kestrel, “and you’re very beautiful, but if you hit me again I’ll kill you.”

“And I thought that maybe this was what it means to get old: to have someone much younger remind you of how you weren't the same person you used to be.”