The door to the greenhouse revealed a long hallway that led to a great room

The door to the greenhouse revealed a long hallway that led to a great room, which opened up all the way to the top of the Palace— countless stories. I looked up to see balcony after balcony after balcony rising above me, climbing so high and growing so small that they resembled little decorative wisps of silver near the distant domed ceiling. Grand mosaics covered the floor. The tiles were sharp, as if they had been shattered rather than cut. Some were bleached shades of ivory.