“Why not?”
“Tradition.”
“Where can I… never mind, I know that.” Jade took her duffel and case and started to stride across the drum floor.
“Wait, Jade Darcy.”
“What now?”
“Let me show you how to enter the right way.” Peaches turned and walked in the opposite direction. Jade thought about making a dash for it, but duty and the need to know all the approach and escape routes from anyplace she lived prevailed and she followed him through the maze of goods.
As Megan had discovered, the Restaals considered rectangular grids an unlucky omen. This meant, Jade quickly found, that Restaal settlements were laid out in circles, spirals, herringbones, hexagons—nearly any way but square. This resulted in mazes of paths, twisting and approaching at any angle except ninety degrees. Jade counted ste
