Haven’t you ever been in a fairy tale before? - Peter S. Beagle

"Any woman can weep without tears," she answered over her shoulder, "and most can heal with their hands. It depends on the wound. She is a woman, Your Highness, and that's riddle enough"

There's a line in the Bible about perfect love casting out fear. That I don't know about, but orneriness will do it every time.

"If she had touched me," he said very softly, "I would have been hers and not my own, not ever again. I wanted her to touch me but I could not let her. No cat will. We let human beings caress us because it is pleasant enough and calms them - but not her. The price is more than a cat can pay."