“She did not believe he could have really gone, because for her, to leave the person you loved was impossible.”

“He could tell by the quality of her silence that she did not believe him, but if there was an advantage to being emperor, it was that she could not call him a liar to his face.”

““It’s impossible to protect anyone completely without enslaving them. I think that’s something you’ve never understood because you’ve always demanded too much of yourself. You blame yourself for your sister’s death—”
“I didn’t watch her carefully enough.”
“What could you have done? Remember her life, not her death. She was brave and happy and arrogant, the way a child should be. You could only protect her more by chaining her to you with fear. She couldn’t live that way, not and remain the person you loved.””

“He had experienced the horror that leaves you calm and unafraid, but for her something inside was broken and he did not know if it could be mended. Her life, her horror, he could not tell.”

“Suddenly Corbell missed Mirabelle terribly. He mourned her, not because she was dead, but because she was gone.”

“I love you, and because I love you I believe in you. But if I did not believe, still should I love. Had you come back for me, and had there been no other way, I would have gone into the jungle with you - forever.”

“Because she told me - she was afraid thatwas moving in on Adrian."

"Really? Did you defend our love?”

“To be loved because of one's merit, because one deserves it, always leaves doubt; maybe I did not please the person whom I want to love me, maybe this, or that - there is always a fear that love could disappear.”

“A mother's love is a blessing
No matter where you roam.
Keep her while you have her,
You'll miss her when she's gone.”

“Why did you say you believed me?"
In profile, he could see both the young woman she was becoming and the little girl he remembered.
"Because I trust you.”