Part IVAvaniel had asked Iain to meet him at the Black Swan Tavern three times since Iain had become a patient at the hospital of the All-Gods Temple in Calana. The first time had been for breakfast, not long after Avaniel had called him out of his long trance.
It was the first time he had been outside the hospital and its gardens and walking trails. The sky was gray-blue. River gulls screamed and turned above his head as Iain had waited for a cab to pass by the street between the hospital and the river. He watched the sailboats, small, quick, like butterflies on water. He had loved sailing once, back home. Maybe he would take Avaniel sailing. The moon and the few remaining stars were fading. The street lights were winking out. The cabbie, once she was through complaining about the new st
