The Two Princesses of Bamarre

Step follows step, Hope follows Courage, Set your face towards danger, Set your heart on victory.

Drualt took Freya's warm hand, Her strong hand, Her sword hand, And pressed it to his lips, Pressed it to his heart. Come with me,' he said. Come with me to battle, My love. Tarry at my side. Stay with me When battle is done. Tarry at my side. Laugh with me, And walk with me The long, long way. Tarry with me, My love, at my side.

I put my fingers around the unmarked ring of the spyglass and twisted. The scene became clear. Oh no! A hairy brown spider clung to a vine! I couldn't go there! I'd go to the desert to find a dragon. I began to reset the spyglass, but then I stopped myself. A spider was worse than a dragon? No. My first monsters would be spiders, then.

He stopped and took my hand. "If we die, or if I die..." He was speaking of dying, and I couldn't stop smiling. In the dark he must not have noticed, because he said in a rush, "I must tell you that I love you, and if I live I will ask for your hand, but you needn't say anything now if it distresses you, and I might rather die without knowing that you don't love me if that's how you feel." I tried to speak, but nothing came. I had gained courage during my adventures, but not for this. "Addie?" Too soft to hear, I whispered, "I do love you." But he heard. He cupped his hand under my chin and tilted my face up so I had to meet his eyes. He was smiling too, with a smile as happy as mine. "Oh, Addie!" He leaned down to kiss me...

Luck was with me. I saw no spiders. Luck was against me. I saw no specters.

I was no hero. The dearest wishes of my heart were for safety and tranquility. The world was a perilous place, wrong for the likes of me.

He -it- was a specter! I stepped back, stunned.

Crying is part of the adventure

Food for thought requires a mind with teeth.

I can see that. She is lovely, very different from you. Oh, my clumsy tongue." Vollys's bells clanged. "You are lovely too, but in a quieter way. In temperament I see that you are different as well. She could lead a charge, but you could last a siege. This is fascinating, little Adelina. The more I look at her, the more clearly I see you. You may be a worthier opponent than even my Willard was.

…while the outside world was full of danger, I knew my interior. I was certain that I could oust an intruder there.

Sorcerers believe that an action taken for the right reasons has an unreasonable chance of success.

I’d never before been infatuated with someone living, someone real.