Heart's tale

Chapter 1 Part 2

When the chain finally lifted him to the floor of Sector 77, the second sun was already blazing, and Wolfie covered his eyes in surprise, caught in the barest glow of both luminaries. Feeling the heat warming his bones, he smiled and put on the sunglasses that had been dangling around his neck the whole time. The chain hurried higher, toward the winch, and below Galahad the observation deck was already crawling down. The Magister hesitated and, did not jump, but with quick and habitual movements climbed down the chain and descended to the scorched metal, tapping on it with wooden soles.

The platform surrounding the three-story small observatory building, with its telescope sticking out into the distance, was empty. It overlooked the entire City and served as a crossing point for the bridges that connected the tops of the middle tier buildings and the castles of the upper tier — they towered over the City like islands. Each was an architectural masterpiece of its own, belonging to one of the great houses that for centuries had competed with each other in elegance. They were of the finest art, and they fascinated those who had been at such heights, making them connoisseurs and devotees of true splendor. Here it was no longer a question of excessiveness as such. This richness of style went beyond the point where one wanted to worship, and it was hard to believe that it was all man-made. At least, that was true of the four castles that could be easily seen from the platform. To the north was Yath, a little closer was Amun, to the east was Bombarda, and farther south was Levaturgosta. In the center of the City rose the Usurper's Palace, which looked like a giant older brother against the backdrop of all these castles. A large stone bridge, built between the spires of the tallest buildings in the middle tier, led from the platform to Castle Amun, where among other things was the University and the Gilda Clock Tower, Magister Wolfie's destination.

The glow of both luminaries sparkled on the wind-polished hedge pattern that surrounded the perimeter of the site. The drawing told the classic chronicle of the City. Characters of antiquity flashed with cutting light in the eyes of a viewer rare in these parts, warning them not to fall into the vast sea of tiled and stone roofs, into the canyons of quarters that descended ever lower to the invisible earth — as if the slopes of mountains that separated the castles that had been their peaks. It was easy to stare and go blind from all this beauty, so the Magister did not immediately notice a lengthy man in a light coat and a tall leather hat, intensely looking something in the blue instrument of the city view.

"Master Perleglose. I didn't expect to find you here," Wolfie said, standing to the right of the watcher. His words made the Grand Master of the Magistrate Perleglose, head of House Trocchia, jump, and the cylinder on his head wobbled, so he had to grab it with both hands to keep it from falling.

"Oh! Oh, my Heart! Wolf! Wolf! You... Moon damn you, sneak up master!" trying to bring the cylinder back to its lost balance, the man grunted, turning to Wolfie with his white beard twitching in all directions.

"I beg your pardon, Grand Master," Galahad bowed his head.

"Watch it, you joker," Perleglose muttered, smoothing his beard. "What do you think you're bowing to me for? Have you seen what's happening to the second platform? It won't be long before this whole millennia-old monument, damn it, crumbles on your house under the weight of this insane Tygrad project."

He paced back and forth anxiously:

"Oh, moons! I don't understand who they listen to in the Palace now ("I wonder how old he is?" the inner voice inquired. "Probably younger..." suggested another. "But not by much," the third one replied. "How on earth did he survive the 'night'?" squealed their somber colleague) and better let the earth swallow them if the architectural firm grants permission for this suicidal nonsense!" finished the Grand Master and pointed to the Old Quarter.