Present Day
The great hall was bathed in jewel tones by the setting sun, the high ceilings hung with elaborate chandeliers the candles of which burned with mage fire, and the bracketed torches burned purple with it, casting moving shadow across the glossy tiles of the floor.
The tables were all arranged to fit within zones outlined by the colour of the tiles - a strictly observed and upheld class system. Sylvin led her along the walkway, past each of the zones, to that just below the high table – the gold zone.
He seemed to know precisely where to sit, just lower down the table than an elaborately dressed young woman whose face was so heavily made up as to be mask-like, and above Cerilius, who inclined his head to Yelena. Yelena was seated between Sylvin and the young woman, and she wondered at the significance of the arrangement.