Fear and superstition always follow the unseen, the unknown, the whispered of. - Sheri S. Tepper

An intelligent woman herself, the Duchess had overestimated the Marshal’s intelligence. Not an ambitious woman, she had underestimated his ambition. So are many misread by other’s lights.

If you are less uncontrolled, you won't find yourself rolling around on the floor making infant noises and attracting the scorn and derision of your fellows."
"Damn motherfuckers ain my fellows."
"What did you say?"
"I said I feel little collegiality for those sharing my conditions of servitude.

The prophetess had declared it a sin to believe in absolute truths, but the Scrutators claimed that didn’t apply to religious truths, of which they had manufactured a good supply over the centuries.