Amaldi’s expression clearly said, Why would we want to? But Darreno shook his head. “No. If we attempt to move outside of the confines of the city, we sleep. There are streets within the city we cannot follow. There seems to be a specific radius to the area we’re allowed; we can trace a large circle.

“At the center of it is the High Halls.”

“The current High Halls?”

They both frowned at the question. Darreno turned toward the High Halls, although technically they were obscured by the taller buildings that housed multiple families close to the well. “What do you mean when you say ‘current’ in that tone?”

“The current condition of the High Halls is new. For most of my life that’s not what the High Halls looked like.”

They traded another glance. “Do you mean it has changed recently?”

She nodded.

“It...looks the same, to us. But brighter or newer. Amaldi wondered if we had somehow gone back in time.”

“I was quite happy to know that we hadn’t,” Amaldi added. “But it’s true I wondered. I wondered if somehow this city with all these people was like this before all the wars and the—” She shook her head.

Are you thinking what I’m thinking? Kaylin asked Severn.

Severn, silent, nodded slightly. Do you mind if I intrude?

No. I don’t hate it, it just tickles a bit. Severn slid into the space behind her eyes. She hadn’t lied. He almost never did this because it felt so uncomfortable to both of them. Severn wasn’t used to seeing out of two sets of eyes and Kaylin wasn’t used to having Severn in particular look through hers. She was too aware of his presence.

He studied their clothing.

“I’d like to ask a couple of questions about your clothing.”

“Our clothing?”

“Yes. It’s not like the clothing most of the people here are wearing.” Amaldi was wearing a brightly colored silk, which appeared to be a single length of cloth wrapped about her body in a way that emphasized color; laid over that was a necklace that matched the delicate strands of her earrings. Darreno was dressed in almost exactly the same silk, but it was a bit more standard: arms, legs—the legs a darker shade, but looser in fit than the present norm.

“Oh. This is what I was wearing when we...left.”

“You can’t change?”

“Into what? We didn’t bring clothing with us—or if we did, it became solid enough that we couldn’t touch it. I didn’t wish to disrobe and have no way to reclothe myself, and...we don’t have problems with dirt here.” This last was said self-consciously. “Which is good because we couldn’t bathe if we did.”

Got it, Severn said, retreating.

“Can you walk to Mrs. Erickson’s house, or is that too far?”