Everything rests on the poisoned wine. If it were just the queen, I could force it down her gullet, but Declan Broekhart would run me through with that damned ceremonial sword, and if his wife's stares were daggers, he'd be dead already.
"The Cursed Wheel," which Declan [Shalvey] is starting here, is the one constant. It's a story in the backups that will go through the whole year and be the one consistent narrative. It anchors the entire [book].
My family calls me Declan. But most people call me E. C. I think it comes from my dad. It's an Irish convention. You usually call the first child by the initials.
If (Declan) Kidney had gone for religion instead of teaching, he would have been Pope.
I love you, and you're the measure of my wrath. Declan.