The absolute, as I had finally been shown, does not need the accompaniment of pipes and drums. - Tanith Lee

It was idiotic to be superstitious.

I can't guess," said Olvia, "why he accepted my invitation. If I had realized he would, I would never have sent it.

At some point, Dekteon saw, his own world had come close to such a religion, where women ruled and men died—but the road had taken a different turning. Now the hints of the ancient mystery remained only in songs. It was the men who were the masters. Maybe not for the better, and not for the worse, either. But all this was unimportant.