Crisp, cold air filled Skye's lungs after the stagecoach door had been opened by the driver. The palace lights reflected their yellow tinted glow off of the pure white canvas of the snow-covered ground. Tidas stepped out first to help his wife from the coach, like the gentleman he was.
The snow on the palace courtyard ground had been sanded and packed down with a special tool for convenience, instead of being shoveled. The tool rolled along like lawn cutters, but with someone dusting sand in front of it. In place of blades, the cylindrical piece had long metal plates attached all the way around. When pressed into the sand and snow, it condensed while imprinting a groved pattern on top to stop most slippage.
