Just bring your wits. Sometimes that's the most effective weapon any of us has.

Secrets have a way of making themselves felt, even before you know there's a secret.

I'm starting to believe that happily ever after includes people doing things that upset each other. We all get cranky, or impatient, or worried, or careless enough to do or say things that hurt someone else. Like it or not, that's normal. We can't blame it all on Olympia's bad energy. The important part is that we feel sorry about what we've done and make up for it. That's something Olympia never did.

She said, "As long as we're with each other--" "We know we're in exactly the right place," he finished.

And they lived happily (aside from a few normal disagreements, misunderstandings, pouts, silent treatments, and unexpected calamities) ever after.

No matter how good somebody's life looks from the outside, you can be sure there's something about it you wouldn't want to have in your life.

It was good, too, to remember how hard a lot of people had to work to keep a kingdom running well, and that it was simply good manners to let them know, from time to time, how valued they were.