PROLOGUE Bastien stares up into the twilight sky, amazed not for the first time by the rings of color that splash across the vast expanse before him. They glow with far more brilliance than any colors he has ever glimpsed back on Earth. The colors appear rich in depth, as if they might feel like velvet if he were to stretch out his hand to touch them. Perhaps this mirage is brought on by the mists that cling to this moon, or perhaps his voluntary exile has finally begun to riddle his mind. Two of the other moons that orbit the planet Calisted hang in the sky before him, each boasting a vibrant intensity of shifting hues. He likes this time of night, when the animals begin to bed down and an eerie silence falls across the land. It is quiet here on the rooftop. Away from the men. Away from the demands of his work. He doesn’t complain about his duties. In fact, he embraces them with more fervor than most. The tranquility of this place calls to him and yet, in the midst of such beauty, Bastien finds himself missing her.
