#amicissus

“Excellent,” Amicissus said, pronouncing the word in the Chiarian way. “Come, you must see my wife’s wonderful gardens – there are times when I think she is secretly a round-eared elf, to work such wonders. Why, would you just look at that color in the Sartaan clover, and how thick she’s gotten the lassalla to grow…”

We circled the grounds over the next half an hour, with Decoria hovering nearby,…

“May I offer you some tea?” the priest asked, motioning for me to take a seat.

I accepted, sliding onto the stone bench and trying not to show my trepidation. “Water is perfectly fine, thank you.”

The priest smiled, his well-weathered face wrinkling to the point where his eyes almost disappeared. He was a somewhat older man, with the sort of round, rugged features I tended to associate with…