"He sent for you to have you named his heir" (Chapter 1, p. 21).

"This girl, smells like a goat" (Chapter 3, p. 25).

"Obviously, you're so overcome by grief at the death of your old king that you're forgetting yourself" (Chapter 6, p. 50).

"Between the barbarian hordes waiting at our northern border for the first sign of weakness, and the peasant uprisings in the east, now is not the time for an inexperienced sheepherder to play at being king" (Chapter 8, p. 61).

"Janine, when you first came to us, you were less than a week old - just a tiny little bundle, wrapped in a blanket" (Chapter 10, p. 72).

"Right and truth are One with pinochle and rye bread" (Chapter 12, p. 95).

"I be having my own kingdom, thank you - when Shelban kings be not sabotaging us" (Chapter 14, p. 108).

"This dragon was eating cows, horses, and maidens, and then King Cynric bought him off...