"But have you ever seen the ferns and flowers blossoming in graveyards, bringing hope that even in the chambers of Death, there is Birth and there is Life?"
~
Crowning and Imperial Castle,
Kingdom of Tristendyre,
The first Phrinight of the Second month,
XXI Year of Regency
Lady Minerva hurried her way down the spiralling stone stairway that led to the fore-chamber of the Imperial Castle, bearing the grilled arched doors from whence the great outdoors was.
She could not afford to compose a letter to her friend, Lord Cecil Urbane, be-cause it required much more time than she could spend at that very moment.
The Physician had left Altair to feed on the supper she had lent him in his lavish birdcage whilst she could make her trip to the village of Lyrishveil.
The young lad that had been employed to the task of assisting her had informed that the carriage was drawn and that there was urgent need to complete the to and fro of her tour before the rains could commence yet again.
