How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
Ani rode. She did not see the trees that dashed by her and the branches that moved like executioner axes just above her ducking head. There was no purpose to the direction the horse ran—except away. (5.1)
Let's face it: Ani doesn't have much of a choice here—she can either run off, or be killed. Those aren't exactly the best options in the world, yet she also begins exploring life as something other than a princess with guards and an entourage catering to her every wish.
Quote #5
Outside the forest, Bayern was a land of surging hills and rising lowlands, and the capital was built on the grandest of hills, sloping upward gently. Surrounded by a wall five men high, it ascended into tall, narrow houses and winding streets and towers and many spires, the city a tremendous candled cake ablaze with red-tiled roofs. All the grandeur met at the peak, where stood the many-turreted palace, red-and-orange banners worried by a high wind like candle flames. Next to this, her mother's illustrious palace was a country estate. (6.51)
If Ani is impressed by the Bayern palace, then we know we would be too (fast fact: we ain't royalty). When she begins to look around Bayern, she realizes that she's got nothing in comparison to the sprawling palace there.
Quote #6
Ani walked away and did not look back. She realized that she did not know if criminals were killed in Kildenree. Perhaps they were. Perhaps they were hidden from her, as much of the world had been. Perhaps her mother had thought she was too weak to know the world. (7.70)
Is her mom right? Was Ani too weak to understand the world? She grows up and becomes much more capable by the end of the novel, but at the beginning she is pretty sheltered. She thinks her life is tough because her mom is cold and pushes her to be a princess, but she hasn't gotten out much and learned about the real world.