Filmy curtains fluttered in the ever-present breeze. Sofas, lounge chairs, and ottomans covered in thick velvet and silky brocade were scattered around the rooms and courtyards. Tables covered in gold leaf and encrusted with gems had been placed near the arms of all the furniture. Fountains like waterfalls trickled, gushed, and splashed in the corners of some rooms and the centers of others. The floors shone with glittering mosaics. Some of the tiles were as tiny as my fingernail and others were the size of my hand. An indescribable array of colors and shapes had been designed into unearthly landscapes and heavenly bodies. So beautiful were the palace rooms and courtyards that it took me a while to realize just how long Sean and I had been walking. Each room or courtyard, many as large as a gymnasium, seemed to be separate from the others, each its own little oasis of luxury. Some hallways led to dead ends, while others stretched on forever, so far that I couldn’t see the end of them.
