Desa stepped out of the library, into the shade provided by the overhanging roof above the front entrance. Not that she needed much shade on a day like this; those thick clouds were still lingering. People were milling about on the street below, some walking past the park on the other side of the road, others looking into the windows of nearby shops. Gloomy weather didn’t keep Aladri indoors. Not when the island was visited by a hurricane almost every year.
Bracing a hand on one of the massive, stone pillars, Desa paused to look out on her city. “The boy’s smarter than he has any right to be,” she muttered under her breath. “Puts the fools in the Synod to shame.”
She descended the steps at a quick trot, and before she was halfway to the bottom, she found herself grinning. “If he’s so sma
