There, in close proximity to the stored spellwines, he said he could think best. Jerzy, with three others and Ao’s chair to consider, chose instead the courtyard within the House. Open to the blue sky, the breeze tinged with the smell of rough dirt rather than the sea, the moment he ushered them all through the doorway, the rightness of his choice settled on him. He could think, here. The night before, they had not done more than unpack the wagon and settle in, so Kaïnam had not had a chance yet to see the courtyard in the center of the House. He looked startled, then frowned at the bare ground as though demanding that grass grow underfoot. “Over there,” Jerzy said, directing them to the great spread-branch tree with the stone bench underneath that dominated the center of the courtyard. The branches raised all the way up to the second floor, creating shade against summer heat. Now, with winter approaching, the branches were mostly bare, and it appeared more like a skeleton than Jerzy was comfortable looking at.
