I am beginning to think that love itself is never wrong. It is what love can drive people to do that is the problem.

God's Teeth,' he says. 'I was only trying to wake you. You were crying out in your sleep.' 'I was not,' I say, then look from his neck to my knife. 'When I tried to wake you, you stabbed me.' He sounds sore put out. and I cannot blame him.

I blew that clay pigeon to smithereens. I don't know why Mum got so upset. According to Uncle Andrew she's a crack shot herself. But she says I'm too young. What I'd like to know is how old does a person have to be before they get to do all the fun stuff?

... then he offers me his arm. As I take it, I wonder what folly decreed that women cannot walk unassisted.

This is what I want to be. An instrument of mercy, not vengeance.

I pause at the door, wishing I could find a corner and sleep until my head clears, but the sailor said the abbess is expecting me, and while I do not know much about abbesses, I suspect they are not fond of waiting.

Jewels can be replaced, cousin. Independence, once lost, cannot.