The Golden Court did not look like a place meant to welcome anyone.
It rose at the center of Deira's parliamentary district in a wide circle of black stone, gold glass, and suspended balconies, its twelve administrative wings stretching outward like blades arranged around a sun. Ether lines ran through the outer walls in deliberate patterns that were neither decorative nor hidden enough to be purely functional. It was power displayed as procedure, authority wrapped in law instead of simple posturing.
Arik disliked it immediately.
Severin noticed.
"You built it," he said.
"Goliath built it."
"Are we ignoring the fact that you are a version of him? Plus, Cassian approved it."
"Yes, we are, while Cassian approving it explains the hostility of the building."
