You saw my leg?" "How can a man help what he sees?" he said. "And, if I could add, you possess a very fine leg.

... 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.

This morning, Tegus welcomed me again with an arm clasp and cheek touch. I wasn't startled this time, and I breathed in at his neck. How can I describe the scent of his skin? He smells something like cinnamon-- brown and dry and sweet and warm. Ancestors, is it wrong for me to imagine laying my head on his chest and closing my eyes and breathing in his smell?

I'm a terrible prince. I should put my kingdom first and everything else second, but your first. I want you by my side every second, but I know I would crumble if I lost you.

Razo knew he was best at nothing, except maybe cramming two cherries into a single nostril.

Just like the old adage--what you dislike most in other people is what you dislike the most in yourself--

Mama used to say, you have to know someone a thousand days before you can glimpse her soul.