Do you promise?" He demanded again.
"I can't let you go, Alek." She said softly.
"You...what?

There was a long pause. "Um, I'm afraid I don't know the word in English."
"The word for what?"
"I just said I don't *know* it!

That letter was your whole future, you daft prince."
"It was my past. I lost that the night my parents died. But I found you, Deryn. Maybe I wasn't meant to end the war, but I was meant to find you. I know that. You've saved me from having any reason to keep going."
"We save each other. That's how it works.

But it won't be much of a battle, will it?" Alek asked. "What can an airship do to a pair of ironclads?"
"My guess is, we'll stay absolutely still for an hour.  Just so we don't fall into any bad habits.

Don't. Shoot. The air is full of hydrogen!

He took his own saber by the blade and handed it to Alek, pommel first, as if offering it to a victor.