Chapter 169

　　The water was bluer thank Akyran's eyes and sparkled like it was scattered with diamonds. I watched another ship move into the bay. The port and city were busy with traders moving in and out.

　　A strange place, this, I thought, watching the movement from my perch in the open tower window. Isolated and surrounded by a deadly desert, the people who had colonized this spot had been foolhardy and determined. They had come from further inland, following the fertile land off the riverbanks until it disappeared into the ocean.

　　The people were brilliant and deadly, like the environment. Their clothing was brightly coloured, finely woven, and designed for the heat of this land. They wore their wealth in gold heavily around wrist and throat, and their weapons in plain sight to deter thieves.