Pendragon had called me atomistic—a lonely individual adrift in a sea of modernity—but he was wrong. His community was a sham one, a painted scrim lit by footlights. I knew it, because mine was real. Suddenly, I remembered Mother’s words: Courage is love defying fear. I would defy this place and escape it. I would defy it for those I loved and for myself, because to stay and lose myself here would be the most grievous sin of all. It was time for me to escape.
