The Gem Lords

The Sapphire City - Part 4

     Gilbey's home was almost as large as their rooms in the palace and had two balconies, one on the inside, overlooking the tower's inner shaft, and one on the outside, looking out over the rest of the city. The walls separating them from the house could be patterned in any colour, like wallpaper, or they could be rendered transparent, creating huge windows, or they could be removed altogether, turning their home into an open passage leading right through the side of the tower.

     This was the arrangement when they arrived, and a cool breeze was blowing through the main reception room, stirring the leaves of the colourful vines that covered every wall.

     "Aren't you worried about privacy?" asked Thomas as he watched several people walking across their balcony garden with a casual disregard that told him it was a regular right of way.

     Gilbey chuckled. "We never do anything we're ashamed of. There's nothing goes on here that we wouldn't mind people watching. We see into other people's homes often enough."

     He searched around for his wife, but she wasn't home. One of their children was, though. A man who appeared to be in his early teens but whom his father said was thirty two. His name was Laram and he worked for a local merchant, one of the small army of people who brought food into the city in exchange for the services and works of art the city produced. He greeted Barl, calling him sir and showing the kind of respect he would have given an aged and much admired relative, and then shook hands with the wizards, admiring their wings which he said were among the finest he'd ever seen.

     "You're the one who's going to..." he said to Thomas.

     "Continue Tak's work," interrupted Barl. "Finish work on the star dragons and save us all."

     "Yes," said the young man, looking at the Gem Lord curiously. Then he turned back to Thomas. "My friends will be green with envy when they learn I've met you. The whole city's buzzing with news of your arrival."

     "I noticed people staring at us," said Lirenna, "but they seemed more curious than excited. There was certainly no great public outcry or excitement."

     "I made an announcement yesterday evening that we would be coming here this morning," said Barl, "and that you were not to be bothered or fussed over. The people know that this is all new to you, that you've got a lot to get used to, so they're giving you some space. Even so, though..."

     He gestured back into the tower's central shaft, where they saw several people glancing in as they passed by while trying not to be too obvious about it, and Thomas was amused to see a young woman walk past twice. When she appeared a third time and saw the wizard looking at her, she averted her eyes and hurried on, out of sight.

     "Incredible," he said. "If this were a Tharian city, we'd be being mobbed by crowds of thousands. You'd need to call out the guard to hold them back."

     "We don't have a guard," said Barl. "We've never needed one. Any crime is handled by the families of the victim and the perpetrator, acting together."

     "You don't have families where everyone's a criminal?" asked Thomas.

     Laram looked amused. "I think there was a criminal family once," said Barl, looking thoughtful. "The Canards, about five hundred years back. Tak took care of them himself. Transported the whole family to another continent a few thousand miles away where their lifestyle fit in better than it did here. Last I heard, their descendants were doing quite well for themselves."

     "But there are guards," said Lirenna. "I saw them on the walls and by the gates, looking splendid in their smart uniforms and their long spears."