Lena watched the land spool out below her, in silence and wonder, wrapped up tight, the sky gleaming a jewel-like, freezing blue. She felt grateful. Grateful for her life, yes. Grateful to have escaped the tiny, clouded world of her home. But guilt, fear, and anger had lodged in her heart like splinters too.

As evening approached, Lena spotted something on the horizon: a jaggedness on the curve of the land, outlined against the sinking sun. Staring into the brightness, she couldn’t pick out the details, but hills started to rise and cast long shadows, reaching toward them.

“Nearly there,” Emris said softly.

As the sun sank, the city revealed itself against the pinkening sky, and Lena felt her eyes widen. It was vast.

Emris flew higher as they neared. “Might as well take in the view,” he murmured, watching Lena’s rapt eyes with a quirk of his lips.

The City of Kings nestled in a shallow basin surrounded by seven hills and crossed by a wide, shining river. Lena counted four bridges spanning its silvery width. The tallest buildings in the city gleamed with glass, and she spied domes of gold and stone turrets whipping with flags. The streets were straight, strictly gridded—except on the outskirts of the city, where they tumbled ragtag up the hills like old lace—and courtyards were picked out here and there, some shining with pools and fountains like gems. Toward the north of the city, a huge expanse of green surrounded a large square building with seven pointed towers. Lena found herself breathless.

“The center is divided into three districts,” Emris said. “There is the royal district.” He pointed to the expanse of green to the north, a few riders galloping across the park. “That huge seven-towered building is the palace. To the southeast, the commercial district.” He wheeled the carriage around gently, pointed toward an area with packed, gridded streets—people bustling about their business, despite the sinking sun. “Those big buildings are the municipal trading halls and the merchant guilds, but there are more homes here than in the other districts.” He turned the carriage slowly to the left. “And there in the southwest is the temple district. That’s where we’re going.” Lena trained her eyes on the broad central street of the district, lined with enormous buildings, flashes of gold and silver—statues?—catching the dying sunlight. “That street is the Sacristi, where most of the temples are,” he explained.

“Most of them?”

“Well, technically, no one knows where Mythris’s temple is,” he said.