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Even now, after all these months of being shadowed by the man, David still did not know much about Vito’s abilities, but it was at least clear that the new Lord of Warrenhold had not chosen this man thoughtlessly. Vito did not speak very much, even when spoken to, but David was quite confident that he was taking this job very seriously.

It had become something of an ongoing project for David: trying to crack through that wall of stoicism. Plus, it was an opportunity to learn more about the fabled Rainlords of Sair. He’d already known a fair amount about the Sandlords of Sair, thanks to his brother Meriwether’s marriage to Nasira Saqqaf, but the Rainlords had always been comparatively more mysterious. As far as he knew, Atreya had never had any formal relations with them, so in some sense, this young bodyguard here was making history.

If only he could convince Vito to see it that way. Maybe he’d be more talkative.

For the moment, however, David remained entirely focused on his other young friend as they entered Livingston together. The great antechamber was so large that it could have easily handled hundreds more entrants--and frequently did so, he knew. Despite how many people he saw around, the place still managed to feel somewhat empty.

It was a long trek to the Atreyan Embassy, but thankfully, the seemingly endless hallways had travelators to make the journey easier. Victor continued gawking the whole way, and David didn’t blame him. At every intersection, there seemed be yet another opulent thing to stare at and admire. A Pre-Imperial statue of the God of Death. A gigantic painting of Arcanus Daris, the first Mohssian Emperor. A golden chandelier the size of a truck. Another Pre-Imperial statue of the Goddess of Relief, joined by an angel holding a sleeping baby in swaddling clothes.

That one was particularly famous, as was the scene it depicted. David had seen it many times through his life, in almost every medium of artistry imaginable, but he felt that the statue might have been his favorite, even if he personally harbored little-to-no-love for religion in general.

It was the scene of the Goddess Xixa and the Archangel Maximillius allowing the God of Death to be born into the world in order to ease the suffering of mortals.