Now the clear winter sky shone with thousands of stars made dim by the ever-burning lights of the city of the Gods. They’d passed the Twin Temples on their way into the city, Cath’s a dark, sleek assemblage of narrow spires and clustering towers, Belia’s squat and warm with glowing yellow stone. They faced one another across a wide open space that in summer was a garden lush with flowers and trees; now it was dormant, though the temples’ auras kept it snow-free. Evon thought it would have been less depressing had it been covered in snow. The inn Mrs. Petelter chose was smaller and less expensive than the one they’d stayed in in Calian, but she had compensated for this by evicting the current tenants and hiring the entire inn. She called it security; Evon thought it might be paranoia, but he knew nothing about the subject and had to defer to Mrs. Petelter in any case. If it kept Kerensa safe from Speculatus, then he was in favor of paranoia, though he was beginning to suspect that Odelia had lost them completely.
