Uber writing session--lots of dialogue, so it seemed to go really quickly. Hence, the large amount written (although it was over two sessions to get that much written).

small preview:

Delwok cared for the boy, but only so much as a relative. He and Vayad spent little time together, only the bare minimum it seemed. Whereas, he and Natali chatted often. She enjoyed the deep and varied conversation they would have—something his wife and he rarely had. He recognized that Natali merely wanted to glean information from him. So he abliged. There was no one else to talk to, and she did not come around often enough for him to resent her company. She kept mostly away, but her company over the dozen or so times that she came by in those many months was a pleasant change of pace.

As the watery sun rose above the icy dome of heaven the came to a turn in the road near the middle of the ascent with a remarkable vantage on the surrounding countryside. The highway, the gentle hillocks, the manor houses with their gardens all spread behind them into the ice-blue mists of the capitol morning.
Then the road turned, and the ascent was surrounded by one of many market districts. Here the road was paved with a rust-colored stone, fanning like the tail of a bird, and widened considerably.
There were no hawkers here. The merchants and their help were dressed in fine linen and silk. On platforms at intervals along the road, musicians of singular calibre plied their trade. It was quite a sight, and Oru noted the grins on the faces of his young acolytes, to see the mingling throngs tossing small coins up to the platforms (some as high as twenty hands over the tallest heads), a custom which was as much game for the crowd as livelihood for the musicians. On occasion, a particularly fat coin might hit the platform, or a coin might hit very near the musician, which would cause them to rise and bow (even as they played) and often elicited cheers from the throng.
At one point, the young acolyte with the bamboo flute picked up the tune as they passed, and the crowd tossed coins to him. He looked to Oru with somewhat of worry upon his face, but Oru just smiled his catlike smile.
The young man passed the coins to children as they passed.
Too soon, the road turned again, and they found themselves on the upper plateau, here the road, now a tree-lined avenue, ran straight as an arrow to the summit, where sat the emperor's palace. To either side of the road, government buildings and civil servants' houses towered above them. Here, floating gardens the size of small houses drifted toward the frozen sky, some just blots of blue-dark against the dazzle.