“WI felt I ought to comment on that, but nothing occurred to me.”

“It had never occurred to me that I could lose Amy twice, but that's what it felt like. It felt like I was losing her all over again.”

“Even then, it hurt. The pain was always there, pulling me inside of myself, demanding to be felt. It always felt like I was waking up from the pain when something in the world outside of me suddenly required my comment or attention.”

“Am I a man? To want you so badly that nothing else matters? To see you, and know I would sacrifice honor or family or life itself to lie wi' you, even though ye'd left me?”

“And in that sliver of time, I felt the power around me coalesce, malice-hard and sharp as crystal.That this analogy occurred to me should have been a warning.”

“He gazed at me. "You've grown up honey." It felt good to hear it. I thought maybe he was right. Then it occurred to me that if I really had grown up I wouldn't want to be told.”