THE DAGGER AND THE CHALICE
The first thing Satyena noticed about the humble flat was that it was humble, humble in almost every sense of the word except for the plethora of paintings and books, books which crammed shelves and spilled over tables (which were themselves supported by books), paintings which covered nearly every inch of the walls and leaned in corners like cheval glass mirrors. It was the paintings that struck her the most, with their scenes of romantic interludes between men and women and their graceful studies of the female form—images which would have been burnt summarily, along with their owners (to say nothing of the artists) amongst the witches, but which had found safe harbor here among the men, although it was possible these were illicit and that it was only these two
