ty. The air was thick and dense with particles of soot.
Mara rubbed her mouth, coughing.

"Here they come," Erick said softly.

The merchants had been examined and allowed to pass through the dark
gate, the entrance through the wall into the City. They and their silent
animals had already disappeared inside. The leader of the group of
soldiers was beckoning impatiently to Erick, waving him on.

"Come along!" he said. "Hurry up there, old man."

Erick advanced slowly, his arms wrapped around his body, looking down at
the ground.

"Who are you and what's your business here?" the soldier demanded, his
hands on his hips, his gun hanging idly at his waist. Most of the
soldiers were lounging lazily, leaning against the wall, some even
squatting in the shade. Flies crawled on the face of one who had fallen
asleep, his gun on the ground beside him.

"My business?" Erick murmured. "I am a village priest."

"Why do you want to enter the City?"

"I must bring these two people before the magistrate to marry them." He
indicated Mara and Jan, standing a little behind him. "That is the Law
the Leiters have made."

The soldier laughed. He circled around Erick. "What do you have in that
bag you carry?"

"Laundry. We stay the night."

"What village are you from?"

"Kranos."

"Kranos?" The soldier looked to a companion. "Ever heard of Kranos?"

"A backward pig sty. I saw it once on a hunting trip."

The leader of the soldiers nodded to Jan and Mara. The two of them
advanced, their hands clasped, standing close together. One of the
soldiers put his hand on Mara's bare shoulder, turning her around.

"Nice little wife you're getting," he said. "Good and firm-looking." He
winked, grinning lewdly.

Jan glanced at him in sullen resentment. The soldiers guffawed. "All
right," the leader said to Erick. "You people can pass."

Erick took a small purse from his robes and gave the soldier a coin.
Then the three of them went into the dark tunnel that was the entrance,
passing through the wall of stone, into the City beyond.

They were within the City!

"Now," Erick whispered. "Hurry."

Around them the City roared and cracked, the sound of a thousand vents
and machines, shaking the stones under their feet. Erick led Mara and
Jan into a corner, by a row of brick warehouses. People were everywhere,
hurrying back and forth, shouting above the din, merchants, peddlers,
soldiers, street women. Erick bent down and opened the case