"Perhaps the Priestess of the Oracle will claim me for the Goddess at the Beltane festival. Closing her eyes, Eilan tried to imagine the blue robes of a priestess trailing behind her, and the veil shadowing her features with mystery."
Chap. 1, p. 4

"She remembered how the priestesses moved through the festival, so serene in their dark blue gowns. They were honored like queens. Wouldn't that be a better life than being at some man's beck and call?"
Chap. 3, p. 45

"I love Eilan; she is the only woman I will ever marry. And if her father will not give her to me, Rome is not the whole world, you know."
Chap. 6, p. 78

"I have never been tempted to marry; I have been pledged to the Goddess for so long."
Chap. 8, p. 101

"But he wept for her now, as he wept for these women who had for a little while...