Katie Lynn Johnson quotes:

It had been the most difficult part of coming to terms with what she was; knowing that she had to give up a potentially blissful and wildly happy relationship with Caleb. But it was her responsibility, she told herself, to say goodbye to him.

No sooner had the thought occurred to him than he found himself staring down the barrel of a single-shot caplock pistol, and halted in his tracks. It was not a particularly accurate weapon if he remembered correctly, not that it would matter at point-blank range.

An elegant sari was draped across her figure; magnificent, painstakingly embroidered, and in a shade of deep red, it was even more lavish than the gowns she had worn every day since arriving at the castle. Her lips and eyes were painted, and though she looked beautiful she had never been more miserable.