And now I understand that truth casts a spell of its own, one I'm not sure of how to hold on to, though I'm desperate to try.

I don't have time to feel sorry for myself. I've got to think.

With each shimmy, the bugle beads on their scandalously revealing costumes swung and shook. It was the sort of display Evie knew her mother would have found appalling—an example of the moral decay of the young generation. It was sexual and dangerous and thrilling, and Evie wanted more of it.

Careful there, Poet. I might start to believe you.

What happens if your choice is misguided, You must try to correct it But what if it’s too late? What if you can’t? Then you must find a way to live with it.

War." Gorgon spits the word. "That is what they call it to give the illusion of honor and law. It is chaos. Madness and blood and the hunger to win. It has always been thus and shall always be so.

She holds up a finger. "I'm getting to it. Don't rush a girl in the middle of her exposition.