‘We all belong to someone,’ she said, gently. The whole of her world was a system of allegiances, long chains of bent knees and bowed necks that ran from sinner to pulpit, from peasant to throne. It disoriented her even to imagine herself outside of it; no link could be removed from the chain unbroken. ‘We all serve someone. We all command someone. But who…’ She caught his eyes with hers. ‘That choice, at least, is now ours.’
