["The haunting memories of Stephania"]
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Book the First
The Truce
of God
"As I came through the desert, thus it was
As I came through the desert: All was black,
In heaven no single star, on earth no track;
A brooding hush without a stir or note,
The air so thick it clotted in my throat.
And thus for hours; then some enormous things
Swooped past with savage cries and clanking wings;
But I strode on austere;
No hope could have no fear."
—James Thomson.
BOOK THE FIRST
CHAPTER I
THE GRAND CHAMBERLAIN
