"The girl, giggling and overexcited, was running in the sunlit garden, running away from her stepfather, but not so fast that he could not catch her." page 1

"'At least I am just a fool, but you are a triple fool'" page 31

"Now, dressed as a boy in a fool's livery I had committed the sin of vanity, I had been prideful of my schooling and the punishment could be extreme." page 50

"She looked like a woman you could trust, a mistress you could love." page 74

"'Who better than I to understand a life of complicated loyalties?'" page 80

"She had survived the execution of her lover, she avoided the danger of a dozen plots." page 108

"'But now everything has changed and I am queen, and even though I am queen I find I still cannot make my own choices.'" page 136

"Once again the queen learned that holding...