The village of Alden-Heath had transformed into a labyrinth of light. While the main thoroughfare was a roar of commoner joy, the "Noble's Quarter", a row of ancient stone townhouses near the inner wall, was a more refined sort of chaos. Here, the lanterns were made of frosted glass rather than paper, and the air smelled of expensive spiced wine and the cedar-smoke of high-end tobacco.
Verona and Elric were attempting to navigate a shortcut toward the Great Fire lighting ceremony when they were intercepted near a stall selling "Southern Imports."
Standing in front of the stall, looking entirely too comfortable for a man hundred miles from his palace, was Crown Prince Herschel.
He was dressed in a "traveling cloak" of midnight-blue velvet, lined with silver-fox fur that probably cost more than the village's winter grain taxes. Beside him stood Liera.
