Ah, now, don't cry over lost years and forgetfulness. The tales tell what they can. The rest is for us to learn.

I can see that one can never pay back Gilsa for the fear that she will give again.

It was karma, it was kismet, it was magic. It doesn't matter how it happened, just that it did.

His brothers could tease him about his height or the number of scars he was collecting on his body. He could take the joke when they said he would die having never won a fair wrestling match. But the topic of Bettin still smarted too much. He'd imagined being with her always. Now when he closed his eyes, he had trouble imagining anything else.

... until Miri could not help it any longer and she laughed out loud. The sound broke the game. Peder looked at her. He reached out, and she thought he meant to grab her straw or perhaps yank her hair as he used to when they were little. But her put his hand behind her head and, leaning forward, pulled her face to his. He kissed her. One long, slow kiss.

What she had long believed was not true, and now the world was wide open to discover what was. It is like all my life I thought the sky was green.

She wore white heirloom lace about her throat And in her hair a bright golden feather A pearl like a plum hung ripe from her neck But her smile fetched ten gold together