The carriage rolled to a stop.
The palace gates had already been opened before they arrived, as though the building itself had been expecting them.
The two escort knights stepped down first, taking their positions on either side of the carriage door. Then, one by one, the four of them stepped out onto the broad stone courtyard.
The air up here was different from the city below. The sounds of Valemyr's streets didn't reach this high only the wind moved through the open space, slow and easy.
The courtyard was immaculate. The pale stone beneath their feet was laid in a careful pattern that extended outward in every direction, flanked by sculpted hedgerows and low stone balustrades. Ahead of them, the palace entrance rose in a wide, arched facade, tall doors of dark polished wood framed by columns, the stonework above carved with the imperial crest in fine, deep relief.
