Edeard and Salrana walked their ge-horses over to Barkus's wagon. An act rich with association to that time back in Thorpe-By-Water when they'd come to the caravan master for help. The old man's family had been setting up the awnings on either side of the ancient wagon. They'd all been strangers back then, curious and suspicious. Now Edeard knew them all, and counted them as friends — which made this so very difficult. Salrana's thoughts were subdued and morose as Barkus turned to face them.

The old caravan master eyed the packs they were both carrying. 'You're really going to stay here, then?

'Yes, sir.

He hugged both of them. Salrana had to wipe some tears from her eyes. Edeard was fighting to make sure the same thing didn't happen to him.

'Have you got enough money?

'Yes, sir, we're fine. Edeard patted at the pocket inside his trousers. Along the route he'd sold enough ge-spiders to pay for weeks in a lavishly appointed tavern; and he was dressed respectably again.

'If it doesn't work out, we'll be here for a week. You're welcome to come with us. Both of you. You'll always have a home on the road with us.

'I will never forget your kindness, Edeard said.

'Nor I, Salrana added.

'Go on then; be off with you.

Edeard could see in the old man's agitated thoughts that this was just as painful for him. He gripped Barkus's arm and squeezed tightly before turning away. Salrana threw her hands round the caravan master's neck, and kissed him gratefully.

The road which had brought them into the city ended just short of the North Curve Canal. They walked beside the waterway for a little while until they found a bridge over. It was made from a tough ochre-coloured variety of the ubiquitous city material, a simple low arch to which wooden railings had been added on either side. Edeard had to clutch his shoulder bag tightly there were so many people using it, bustling against him. But no animals, he realized; not even ge-chimps. The bridge took them into the Ilongo district, which was made up of small box-like buildings, two or three storeys high with vaulting lierne roofs, and walls which often leaned away from perpendicular. Windows followed no pattern: there were angled slits, crescents, teardrops, circles, ovals, but never squares; they all had panes of a thick transparent crystal which grew, shaped, and replenished itself in the same slow fashion as the structures themselves. Entrances were simple arched oblongs or ovals cutting through ground floor walls; it was the humans who'd added the wooden doors, fixing hinges into the structure with nails hammered into place with telekinesis. Over the years the pins would slowly be ejected by the city material as it repaired the puncture holes they'd made, necessitating re-fixing every decade or so. The constant sedate renewal of the city's fabric made the whole place look fresh, as if it had only just been completed.

The gap between the buildings was narrow. Sometimes, beside a canted corner, there was barely a couple of feet left between walls, forcing Edeard to turn sideways to squeeze through; while other passages were broad pavements allowing several people to walk side by side. They came across little squares and courtyards without warning, all of which were provided with fountains of fresh water bubbling up through the top of a thick pillar.

'Does nobody work? Salrana asked in puzzlement after they'd been thoroughly jostled for ten minutes negotiating the narrow pavements. 'The whole city must be walking about.

Edeard simply shrugged. The district was a confusing maze. It was also where he discovered the city material was almost opaque to farsight. He could only sense the murkiest of shapes on the other side of the walls; and he certainly couldn't perceive right through a building. He wasn't used to having his perception cut so short, it unnerved him slightly. Eventually he summoned his ge-eagle, and sent it soaring above the roofs, mapping a way for them.

He wanted to get to the Tosella district where the Eggshaper Guild had its Blue Tower. It was the district to the east of Ilongo, separated by the Hidden Canal. Despite it being so close, they took forty minutes to negotiate Ilongo before crossing the thin canal on a small wooden bridge.

Tosella's buildings were on a much larger scale than the ones they'd seen so far. Long rectangular mansions with tall slit windows stacked on top of each other up to six storeys high and topped with concentric ring domes that intersected each other like waves frozen in mid-swirl. The ground directly outside their walls was fenced off with high slender pillars, separating the public pavement from emblemata mosaics of glittering primary-colour flecks. Their ground floors were arched cloisters enclosing central quads where prim gardens grew in long troughs under the cool tinted light shining through the roof skylights high above. For the first time in the city, he sensed the minds of genistars. A ground floor in one of the mansions had been converted into stables for them. He even glimpsed apprentices and journeymen scurrying round the quads, their thoughts anxious and subdued as they tried to keep in their Master's good graces. It brought a smile to his face as he recalled some of Akeem's more outrageous stories of an apprentice's life in Makkathran.

'I know everyone asks this, Salrana said as they tarried beside one of the huge mansions, admiring the subtle rainbow shades refracting off its glittering snow-white frontage. 'But I wonder who built this place?

'I thought it was the Firstlifes. Isn't that what the Lady said?

'It doesn't actually say that in any of her teachings. All she says is that the city was left by those who came before.

'They couldn't have been humans, then.

'What makes you say that?

'Oh we can use it well enough, the concept of shelter is universal, I suppose. But nothing here is quite right for us. For a start, there were no gates until Rah arrived.

'So the builders sailed in and out via the sea; that certainly ties in with all the canals, she answered with a smile.

'No. He couldn't match her light humour. His gaze swept along the length of the mansion. The root of architecture was species-based, from the basic functionality to the aesthetic; and Makkathran just didn't fit human sensibilities. He felt out of place here. 'Humans never built this place, we just adapted to it.

'Aren't you the know-it-all; and we've only been here an hour.

'Sorry, he grinned. 'But it is intriguing, you have to admit that.

'They say Eyrie district is the really weird one. That's where the Pythia has her church, which is the only building ever formed for humans. The city granted it to the Lady so her flock would be close to the towers when the Skylords finally return.

'Towers?

'Yes. That's where the Skylords alighted the last time they were here, the day they took Rah's spirit to its rest in Odin's Sea.

'Oh. Hey wait, you mean humans designed the Lady's Church?

She gave a mock sigh. 'See? If you'd ever bothered to turn up to church you'd have known that. It's right there in the Lady's scriptures.

He gave the mansion another suspicious look. 'That's like shaping genistars but with buildings. I wonder if the city builders brought the defaults to Querencia.

'If the Geography Guild turn you down you could always apply to the History Guild.

'Cheeky! He took a swipe at her.

Salrana danced away laughing, and stuck her tongue out. Several passers-by gave her a curious look, unused to seeing a Lady's novice behave in such a fashion. She pulled a contrite face and held her hands demurely behind her back, eyes and mind still sparkling with amusement.

'Come on, he said. 'The quicker we get to the Blue Tower the quicker we get you locked up in the novice dormitory where you belong — out of harm's way and not causing any trouble.