Browsing in shops, strolling down streets lined with tinkling snowdrops, visiting the world’s largest collection of blud creatures in the Muscovy Zoo and laughing at the camels. We kissed in the highest belfry of the Basilica of Aztarte as I sat in a window, my hair rustled by a breeze that smelled of the coming snow. I found that I was no longer frightened of heights. Afterward, Casper stood in the window himself, leaning outward over the whole city, and yelled something barbaric that sounded very much like “Yawp.” It brought him such strange joy that I found it bizarrely endearing.Remembering Verusha’s favorite treat, I stopped at a vendor in the Franchian district and bought a painted box of sugared liver. What were a few more coppers when soon I would be either dead or the reigning monarch? And it was worth it, seeing her face light up when we walked through the door of the groomery.“Ah, darleenk, you remembered!” She snatched the box and popped a sliver into her mouth, sucking blissfully as she ushered us into her sitting room.
