For surely a king is first a man. And so it must follow that a king does as all men do: the best he can.

Keep what you hold in your heart safe and strong.

My playing had called to another human being at last. Surely, she could be no other than my own true love. Slowly, I got to my feet. Speak to me, I thought. And as if she'd heard me, the young woman's lips parted and she spoke thus: Have you lost your mind?

I will not fail,' the water bearer's daughter vowed. 'But worse than failing is not to try at all. For then there can be no hope of success.

How did you explain a thing it had not occurred to you to question? A thing you just knew, clear through to your soul?

Love so joyfully and freely given can never be taken away. It is never truly gone.

That is what love is I thought. A possibility that becomes a choice. A choice you keep making over and over. Day after day. Year after year. Time after time.