Waiting and Letters

Angel did not wake from her pleasant dream until sunlight blazed outside her window and boats were already plying the Serenzo River.

Since advancing to Sequence 4, she needed less sleep. She kept good sleeping habits partly to restore her spirituality and keep her body in peak condition. As she learned more about why Beyonders lost control, she had also come to believe that the habit helped stabilize her condition and reduced the risk of losing control or going mad.

"Even so, now that I've left Backlund, I finally don't have to get up at the crack of dawn and work through a schedule of visits, salons, and dinner parties..."

Looking out at the busy river that ran through Trier, Angel opened the window and took a breath of fresh air. Then she left her hotel suite, went out onto the street, and found a café for breakfast.

A trout roll, a pie filled with minced meat, a serving of seasonal fruit, and coffee with extra milk. In District 13, where prices were relatively low, it all cost just one Verl D'Or—about ten pence in Loen currency.

In Backlund, a breakfast like that would cost at least twice as much... Stifling a small burp, Angel left the café and walked along the river toward the Steam Train Station where she had disembarked on arriving in Trier.

Before long, through the steam that occasionally drifted across the street, she spotted a gold-painted onion dome symbolizing the sun. She saw high walls of white edged with gold, a huge Sun Holy Emblem, and a golden clock tower with a large clock on each of its four sides. A perfectly round golden sphere crowned it, gleaming in the sunlight.

It was the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun in the Honest People Market