Julian waited by the door as Cat and Avra approached—he looked like a sun god, standing there in the light like that with his long, long hair braided and shining like a coronet of glory, bare of that grey wrapping he’d kept the queue bound into. He had the sort of blond complexion that went gold, rather than burning easily, but he must have spent a great deal of the day walking outside—even with his resistance to sunburn, his nose and cheeks were a little pink. A very rude man, Avra decided as they came up to him. “You should wear a paper bag over your head. Julian, this is my—my friend Cat.”
