Kai cleared his throat. Stood straighter. "I assume you are going to the ball?" "I-I don't know. I mean, no. No, I'm sorry, I'm not going to the ball." Kai drew back, confused. "Oh well...but...maybe you would change your mind? Because I am, you know." "The prince." "Not bragging," he said quickly. "Just a fact.

Lines drawn into his face suggested he had spent many years thinking very hard over very difficult problems.

Vanity is a factor, but it is more a question of control. It is easier to trick others into perceiving you as beautiful if you can convince yourself you are beautiful. But mirrors have an uncanny way of telling the truth.

The better to eat you with, my dear.

She was a cyborg, and she would never go to a ball.

Right,' said Kai, 'that'll be no problem in a city of two and a half million people. Let me just go dig out my special Lunar detector, and I'll get right on that.

That you prefer to rule through fear rather than justice? So sorry, Your Majesty, I’m afraid I already knew that about you.