Early in her stay at Winding Circle, Sandry defends a Trader girl (Daja) from an Alpha Bitch fellow noble by calling the Trader girl her close personal friend. The noble replies that if that's true, she's a cat. Without missing a beat, Sandry pours her a plate of milk and tells her to "Start lapping, kitty."
And that after awesomely declaring all of the royalty she's related to (which takes several lines of text) and sneering at said Alpha Bitch being the daughter of a baron and a mere merchant.
There's something hilarious about Briar following proving he can speak Trader Talk by switching back to Common to say that he can't understand how Traders don't shatter their teeth while speaking their language, to which Daja suggests Traders having stronger teeth.
Tris’ Book
It’s a minor one, but Tris’ white lie (“Tastes like mangoes”) to get Niko to take his lung-clearing potion in Tris’ Book. After he trustingly gulps it down, he makes a face and says it tastes awful. Tris, totally deadpan, says she must have been getting confused with some other medicine.
The scene where the Bancanor household discovers Frostpine meditating naked in the kitchen fire. After they calm down, some of the ladies seem very...admiring.
Shatterglass
Despite the "murder mystery" theme, the book is full of funny moments. Every time Tris would deal with muggers in the backstreets counts.
Keth:[a scary thought occurs to him] You say there are three more of you in Emelan? Just like you? Tris: Oh no. They're much worse than I am. Keth:[Beat] I believe you. Tris: It could be worse. We could all be here, now.
When Tris and her group first meet the five year old Glaki. The first thing the girl does when she sees the strangers is to cry "Doggie!" and hug the Gentle Giant dog, "Little Bear".
Many scenes dealing with Zhegorz, from his determination to get Briar to take sleeping drops, to Sandry making him her secretary, even though he can't write. There's also a scene where Empress Berenene wonders about Sandry's secretary because he's so mysterious that her spies haven't seen him.
Sandry announces proudly that breeding mules has been her family's specialty for over two hundred years. Briar, Tris, and Daja stare at each other for a minute, and then Daja comments, "That explains a lot."
"I am not listening to you," Sandry told them loftily as the courtiers laughed. "Do you notice that I am not listening to you?" she continued. "Mark it well. I ignore you." "And I feel ignored," said Briar, rejoining them. "I am so ignored and unheard that I know it won't matter if I say, Why does it not surprise me, that the Landregs breed mules?"
How about the scene where Briar is challenged to an unarmed duel by one of the courtiers? Daja is with him, and starts taking bets from the crowd while Briar makes a show of taking off all his knives.
Alternative Title(s):Circle Of Magic, The Circle Opens, The Will Of The Empress
