"Kuusik is hardly the sort of place that people can live comfortably or easily without help," Diarmuid said, nodding as he savored the taste of beef so well marbled that the fat melted on his tongue, leaving behind a richness that paired well with the bruised herbs Georg had topped the carpaccio with. "Even in summer, the ground is frozen solid if you dig down more than a finger's breadth or two."
Of all the places he'd gone at the behest of the Inquisition, Kuusik March was the one he wanted to return to the least. The nights seemed to last forever in winter, and even in summer, the famed Temple of the Eternal Sun failed to feel warm and welcoming. The entire March was inhospitable, and the people who lived there possessed dispositions every bit as frosty as their environment.
