“No, no no, I cannot let you do this!”
“Then you’ll have to raise your sword to me. And that, my father would kill you for.”
“You don’t approve of this union?”
“Whose to say love won’t succeed where violence has failed?”
“Death comes to us all.”
“When you marry, you will strengthen this household in the face of all our enemies.”
“It has been a bloody summer. Worse than any I remember”
“You must always put Verona/our house first.”
“A night with friends is one well-spent indeed.”
“You broke off your betrothal to [name]’s son/daughter”
”The [family] are rich and powerful. And you were meant to bring their blood into our house.”
“You have nothing that isn’t mine!”
“If you had single thought in that wine-soaked head of yours for politics it would occur to you what an opportunity this is for us. But you don’t.”
“Go [name], wash the stink of the night off you.“
“I love that you can always hope.”
“It’s just a ball.”
“Just a ball? It’s the prince’s ball. I need a rich husband and I’m never going to find him stuck in here.”
“You don’t see the fun in being your own mistress? Of reading your books. Of sleeping in your own bed. Of never being at the whim of whichever man happens to be in charge of you.”
“His lordship wants to see you.”
“It is a great kindness we show to you tonight to allow you to attend the prince’s ball.”
“So it’s true. The prince really did invite everyone.”
“Anyone who commits murder will be executed without trial.”
“You know you don’t have to be so formal.”
“I thought everything in this court was about following the rules.”
“How disconcerting this must be. When last you saw my niece/nephew, they were your peer.”
“Unlike you, dear sister. The idea of finding a husband doesn’t exactly displease me.”
“Somewhere out here is my one true love.”
“I thought we’d start off at the taverns on VIa Fratta.”
“You think no one remembers that your people came from nothing?”
“As of tonight, we’re family. I will not fight my own blood.”
“A plague on both your houses. Ask for me tomorrow and you shall find me a grave man.”
“Are money and power so petty?”
“My father is the prince of Mantua, my lord. I am his heir.”
“Our family name is even older than that of your house. You think I don’t know what my own blood is worth?”
“We have too many enemies outside our walls to turn the families within them against us.”
“Then what do our laws mean if we don’t enforce them?”
“Are you really so caught up in your own desires that you care so little for my happiness?”
“To be married to two men at once would be a sin.”
“In truth, there is only one person I blame for this.”
“Take this potion, and your body will grow cold and still. And you will appear to be dead until you wake in the family tomb as if from a pleasant sleep. Only take one drop. More than that and you will die.”
“What dark magic is this?”
“Fair [name], thou art a true friend.”
“If you think I can’t make you suffer a thousand times more than you already have, you have less imagination than I thought.”
“Mark my words, sweet [name], the worst is yet to come.”
“A curse on the House of [house name]!”
“Milan to the west, and Venice to the east and between them our fair city of Verona. A jewel waiting to be taken by anyone with an army strong enough to overcome us.”
“We must have peace. No matter the cost.”
“Would you ever have told me your secret?”
“If we’re lucky they think we’ve been killed in the riots.”
“If you want to run away I’ll tell them whatever lie you want me to. But you’re going to be runnin alone.”
“A messenger came. From the palace.”
“Aren’t you the least bit grateful? I did just save you!”
“I know the face of death and I know how to care for the sick.”
“You’ll need another pair of hands if he’s to stay alive.”
“Do you know what my father would do to you if he caught you in my room?”
“It’s father, they stabbed him in the streets! He’s dying!”
“So you’d sell me off to a man I hate?”
“I don’t want what I’ve lost. I don’t want comfort. I don’t even know what comfort is anymore.”
“I would give you anything – anything in this world to make you happy. Just tell me. What do you want?”
