8
ELLISANDRA LEFT the house after obtaining a promise from Darma that she would bring Father his breakfast. Hidden deep within the warmth of her cloak, she stepped onto the porch. Clear weather meant that it was colder than usual. The air had a strong bite to it that made her wish that she had brought her scarf.
With the crisp air came a flood of bright light, both from Ceren’s suns and the reflection from the layer of cloud that blanketed the lower-lying areas. From the top of the steps to the porch, she could see those clouds between the two houses on the other side of the street: filling the valley below the city with a hard-edged and incredibly bright cloud deck. The sky above was the deepest blue imaginable and both suns, a hand’s width apart, shone brightly in the sky. The morning
