“Madoc says you will duel for love,' I say.

'Whose?' he asks, frowning.

There is no banquet too abundant for a starving man.

I shake my head.

'It's you I love,' he says. 'I spent much of my life guarding my heart. I guarded it so well that I could behave as though I didn't have one at all. Even now, it is a shabby, worm-eaten, and scabrous thing. But it is yours.' He walks to the door to the royal chambers as though to end the conversation. 'You probably guessed as much,' he says. 'But just in case you didn't.'

He opens the door to prevent me from responding. Abruptly, we are no longer alone.
...
I can't believe he said that and then just walked out, leaving me reeling. I am going to strangle him.”