In his astral kingdom, Jason was on the deck of his house in the waterfall gorge. The sun was high and he let the cool air with the faint spray of the waterfall cool him off. Behind him, Raythe exited the house and looked at the other houses lining the gorge walls.“Most kings seat themselves in a palace, not a neighbourhood,” she observed.He smiled and likewise looked around. Trees grew out of the rock, surrounding the houses of wood and stone built into the sides of the gorge. A light mist drifted through the gorge, giving it an ethereal feel. He gestured at the view.“You don’t think this is extravagant enough?”“Has Dawn told you much about where she comes from?”Jason turned around to look at Raythe.“Not a lot,” he said. “Something about being a galactic space princess.”“She was born in the Sun Palace, which is a palace built around and inside an actual sun.”“That sounds like more trouble than it’s worth. I mean, awesome, yeah, but also kind of a lot. But I can see why this isn’t up to your standards of opulence. I suppose, compared to the things you’ve seen, my little universe is a run-down caravan park.”“It has its charms. Bigger and more don’t always mean better, and this realm of yours is still quite embryonic. I imagine you’ll be refining it a lot over the millennia to come.”“I was thinking of putting some potted herbs out here. It’s always good to have parsley on hand.”“Do you always do this?” she asked. “Distract from your real thoughts with inane frivolities?”“I’d say that it’s kind of my thing, but it’s kind of everyone’s thing. People are very good at distracting themselves. You don’t find that?”She walked over to the wooden rail and leaned her hands on it, looking out at the gorge.“It has been a long time since I was a normal person, even by such unconventional standards of normal as yours. I don’t recall what it’s like to move through (...)