Her friendship with Celtis allowed Deirane to discover certain corners of the Embassy that she never knew existed. Having always stayed in the courtyard and its outbuildings, she hadn’t discovered the pools. Located near the villa, by the river, an immense artificial body of water had been created. It was dotted with islands that subdivided it into small lakes connected by canals. Bridges made it possible to go from one island to the other. They all had a sandy beach, and the largest ones had a small grove of trees in the middle. The place had streams that came down from the mountains, totally devoid of the poisons that flowed into the river. As it was a bit cold, the Helariaseny had built an ingenious system to warm it: before it reached the pools, it flowed in a thin film over a black pa
