The next day, Deirane got up early. She stepped out onto the dew-dampened esplanade to enjoy the morning"s freshness. At that time, the sun was already shining on the palace while Sernos, fifty loins below, was still in darkness. She approached the edge, which was not protected by any railings, and looked down. At this height, she had a bird"s eye view of the city, the river and the plain beyond. She could even make out in the mist on the horizon the mountains that protected the region from the rains of fire.
Things had changed since her last visit twenty years earlier. In the city itself, the big change was in the Helaria Embassy. The construction of the new wing had temporarily broken the order of the place. The war had stopped the work, and the place seemed abandoned, almost in ruins,
