"'Oh, make your mind easy, Half sister,' says Redival. 'It's not me they worship, you know: I'm not the goddess. The men are as likely to look at you as at me, now they've seen Istra."' Part 1, Chapter 3, pg. 34.

"'I, King, have dealt with the gods for three generations of men, and I know that they dazzle our eyes and flow in and out of one another like eddies on a river, and nothing that is said clearly can be said truly about them. Holy places are dark places. It is life and strength, not knowledge and words, that we get in them. Holy wisdom is not clear and thin like water, but thick and dark like blood. Why should the Accursed not be both the best and the worst?"' Part 1, Chapter 5, pg. 50.

"At this the King scratched his head and looked very blank. 'That...