By the time the three of them reached the northern district of Velkaris, the city had already changed around them.
The streets were broader there, cleaner, edged with pale stone and elegant lamp posts that gave off a softer light than the ones in the lower areas. The buildings rose taller too, not in the aggressive way of merchant towers fighting for attention, but with the quiet confidence of places built for people who had never once needed to check the price of anything before stepping inside.
Even the sound of the district felt different. Less shouting, less hurry, more carriage wheels over polished stone and the low murmur of conversations happening behind expensive glass.
Xavier, unsurprisingly, had been talking most of the way.
