Kassian stepped out of the carriage, looking around in surprise. He had often passed by Ruby Street, but it had always been empty despite its favorable location. He had heard from Blaine that people avoided it because of his grandfather’s assassination, but that made little sense to him.
Now the place looked nothing like the quiet, dark dump hidden beside the central street. The cobblestones were swept off and the trash piling on the streets had been cleared. The fronts of the stores looked polished to a gleam even in the sparse light of the street lamps, which were all throwing off a merry shine.
And the people. There were almost as many people as there had been on the main street. The biggest crowd was around the tallest building that shone even brighter than the others, with light spi
