“When Leslie spoke, the words rolled out so regally, you knew she was a proper queen. He could hardly manage English, much less the poetic language of a king.”

“I knew she wasn't English
Because she spoke it far too well
The grammar was goodly, the verbs as they should be
And the slang was bang on the bell
So as the language barrier clanged and banged
I couldn't hear--hear or see
England, London, and Bow
Crumbled into the sea.”

“And because she so desperately wanted it to be true, she knew she could not manage an objective judgment.”

“For she would be Queen of Lumatere.

But he would be king to her.”

“Who knew an elf queen could be so vicious!”

“Why won't the king of Denmark leave us our names? We have done nothing against him. We deserve no less respect than he does. My forefathers were kings of land and sea... Our skalds composed poetry and told stories in the language of King Óðinn himself, who came from Ásgarður when Europe still spoke the language of slaves.”

“Because you could not translate the word apartheid into the more universal language of English, the wrong connotation was given to it.”

“proper attention and management, less irritable, less”

“French, German, English and Spanish are four admirable languages and I manage to express myself in all of them with more or less skill.”

“I knew a girl, once, immortal like me-"

"And she was with someone mortal?" said Alec. "What happened?"

"He died," Magnus said. There was a finality to the way he said it that spoke of a deeper grief than words could paint.”