He struggled to take in what he was looking at now. He saw the residences of the nobility give way to workshops and then a broad boulevard with gates dividing it from the city. The section within the gate was evidently a temple quarter, but it was the immense structure between the temple quarter and the river that drew his gaze.

A perfectly proportioned pyramid rose from the dusty plain of the city’s outskirts, but still within the guarding walls and towers. Although Dion had traveled in Phalesia, Sarsica, and the islands of the Maltherean Sea, he couldn’t believe mere humans were capable of building such a thing. Only the worn obelisks said to be remnants of the vanished Aleuthean civilization rivaled it in size, but they were ancient, and this was new.

He could see slaves climbing scaffolding and huge stone blocks on platforms of wooden logs hovering in the air, work teams lifting them by means of pulleys. He suddenly understood the sun king’s obsession with gold: most of the blocks were faced with shining yellow metal, set against the stone steps both horizontally and vertically, cladding the pyramid’s exterior.

The sun king must have exhausted every treasury in his empire. Every ingot from every mine must have fed his lust for the precious metal. It was either the greatest folly the world had ever seen, or a creation of utter simplicity and beauty. No matter which it was, it demonstrated the sun king’s power for all to see.

Dion watched for a time, seeing priests in yellow robes standing near the overseers with whips directing the work. As he looked at the intense activity he tried to come up with a plan.

He needed to spend time in the city, preferably somewhere he could watch the palace. No doubt its gates would be guarded, so it was probably for the best that he hadn’t stumbled across them. He had a few silver coins sewn into his tunic, but he would need more if he intended to remain longer than a couple of days.

Dion turned around, and there was the young boy from the main city gates, watching and smiling as he hovered near a side street. He had his hands out, showing he meant no harm. The boy looked a little fearful as Dion approached, but he was bold and persistent, and stood fast.

‘What’s your name, boy?’ Dion asked.

‘Anoush, master,’ he said, clasping his hands together and making little nodding bows.

‘Anoush, I need a place to sleep. Somewhere not too expensive but close to the palace. I want a high room where I can watch the city.’

Anoush nodded enthusiastically, smiling so that little dimples formed on his round cheeks. ‘The House of Algar. Please, let me take you, master. You will have very fine views.’