“I look up to say something but he puts his finger to my lips and whispers, Dont talk. Youll just spoil my fantasy of rescuing an innocent damsel in distress as soon as you open your mouth.”

“Im fine, Mom. Thanks for asking....Of course youre fine. She keeps walking. Youre the devils bride and these are his creatures....Im not the devils bride. He carried you out of the fire and is lett...”

“Was that you, Pooky Bear?”

“He is the one pocket of warmth in a sea of ice.”

“So thats your sister? asks Dee in a quiet voice.Yeah.The one you risked your life for?Yeah.The twins nod politely in that automatic way that people do when they dont want to say something insulting...”

“They always always understimate women”

“She was of the stuff of which great men's mothers are made. She was indispensable to high generation, feared at tea-parties, hated in shops, and loved at crises.”

“For we think back through our mothers if we are women.”

“He is a young man with a future of power and opportunity and we are young women destined to be either wives and mothers at the very best, or spinster parasites at the worst.”

“If Im super lucky, I might be able to fight him off and maybe even the warrior after him, but its not a long-term survival strategy. By long-term, I mean the next ten minutes.Were screwed.”

“If I’m super lucky, I might be able to fight him off and maybe even the warrior after him, but it’s not a long-term survival strategy. By long-term, I mean the next ten minutes.We’re screwed.”