How it opens
Alexandria in the eighth year of Theodosius was a golden apple with a wasp inside it.
Two faiths shared the city the way two brothers share an inheritance, politely, and with knives in the sleeves.
HeraklesCome in, come in. Mind the wheel. The wheel is older than your family and cuts deeper.
Choose
State the work plainly. The ring is for a cousin, and the cousin is impatient.
Ask first after the daughter's work, since the daughter's work is the shop's fame now.
Ask what news the Street of the Seal has gathered, since a gem-cutter hears everything and repeats half.