A man in the 1930s recession is sent to a parallel version of Earth after offending a female magician. Ninety years later a cyclist having a bad day finds himself sent to a parallel version of Earth by the same female magician. Hovering in the sky above the other Earth the Great Magician observes both men. One man should have been dead years ago, but he is still only 32 years old, and he is held at that age by magic that comes from the Great Magician.
The Great Magician has ultimate power and basically controls everything that goes on in this world. The men and women in the Council of Magicians all have cloaks of immortality and will live for thousands of years, but those cloaks of immortality can be removed if they should offend the Great Magician.
Magic comes from the magic rings worn by all the magicians, male and female, on this world. There are magicians who are kind and other magicians who are not so kind. The Great Magician is fond of the intricate dances that are performed by some of the female magicians on this world. This gives the female magicians who can perform the dances power and influence with the Great Magician, and since only women dance then female magicians have a special influence with the Great Magician that the men do not.
One of the Great Magician's favorite dancers is the Lady Mary. It can take decades to learn how to perform the dances properly, and the Lady Mary is a most expert dancer. Before the day is out the cyclist who has come to this world will be tricked into becoming a servant of the Lady Mary. The Great Magician sees potential in this man who has come from another world, and he may be useful. So the Great Magician will watch and observe. There are two possible paths for this cyclist. On one path the cyclist will be sentenced to death by the Council of Magicians. On the other path the cyclist may be an expert at an art that was lost to this world more than 10,000 years ago. The first thing the cyclist must do when he arrives on this world is run from red haired humanoid creatures who think he might make a good lunch. The Great Magician watches and waits to see what happens.