I am a kite in a tornado but I have a long string. There is tension in my line. Somewhere, someone is holding onto the other end and, although it cannot spare me this storm, it will not let me be lost while I regain my strength. It is enough.

I was adrift in a sea of questions and if answers were lifeboats, I was in imminent danger of drowning.

Please tell me we don't grow up and turn into the adults that drive us crazy.

And there you have it...if I knew that I could only have a few nights in that man's arms or nothing, I would take those magic nights and use them to keep me warm for the rest of my life.

Sometimes the small pleasures in life are the sweetest.

When Darroc returns, I know by the look in his eyes that I've chosen well. He thinks I picked black and red for him, the colors of his guard, the colors he has told me he selected for his future court. I chose black and red for the tattoos on Barrons' body. Tonight I wear my promise to him that I will make things right.

For the record, Irish," he informed her tightly, just in case she got the wrong idea, "I kneel to no one.