Shota flew home after a pleasant afternoon. Captain Minoru had finished overhauling the big sails. Shota had helped him install them where they belonged on the boat, enjoying the wind in his wayward hair and the way it cooled him as he worked. He became a boy just outside the pedestrian gate, under the shelter of a little entry designed just for this purpose.
Though Shota had never seen another separately roofed pedestrian entry he thought it a good idea. It kept the rain and snow off very well and gave them a private place to change form, not something everybody needed. A classic roofed gate surmounted the big entry, though it was merely a token compared to the one he'd seen at the palace, and had no place for guards, but that gate was only used by horses, carts and palanquins. Except fo
