“Let Tydomin come too.”
The words were delivered in a rough, foreign tongue, but were as intelligible to Maskull as if spoken in English.
“You who know my name, also know my sex,” said Tydomin quietly. “It is death for me to enter Sant.”
“That is the old law. I am the bearer of the new law.”
“Is it so—and will it be accepted?”
“The old skin is cracking, the new skin has been silently forming underneath, the moment of sloughing has arrived.”
The storm gathered. The green snow drove against them, as they stood talking, and it grew intensely cold. None noticed it.
“What is your name?” asked Maskull, with a beating heart.
“My name, Maskull, is Spadevil. You, a voyager across the dark ocean of space, shall be my first witness and follower. You, Tydomin, a daughter of the despised sex, shall be my second.”
“The new law? But what is it?”