“Good!” said the Prince. “Good.” To Cecelia he sounded quite murderous. He stared at Alex in a dreadful, satisfied way, which turned Cecelia cold and faint. Alex stared back, admiring that black eye, cocking his head sideways, almost as if he had painted it on the Prince’s face with the finest of brushes.

- Everard’s Ride, Diana Wynne Jones


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“Theoretically they could have gone to the law and accused the rent collector of extortion. But the rent collector was the Earl’s official, and judges always upheld the Earl’s employees against ordinary people - unless, of course, you gave the judge a big enough bribe. Mitt’s parents had no money for bribes. They needed more than they had to pay ( Read more... )

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