"I'm not sure we're built for it," says Button. "But I do expect the road to get better as we near the city."

Onward they go. After their first forage stop of the night, Button turns out to have been right about the road.

May walks.

The road goes on, winding between increasingly dense hills, until they finally round a corner and see Silver Falls for the first time.

The city is built into the side of a cliff, a tall intricate winding thing with a broad waterfall pouring right through the middle and down into the lake below. To say that it sparkles would be doing it a grave injustice. The spray catches the moonlight and shatters it into a thousand glittering pieces. It's breathtaking.

"You see what I mean about it being worth the effort," says Button.

"Hoooooly shit."

This gets a few shocked giggles out of her escort.

"Is it not customary to swear here."

"If there's a time when it's appropriate, 'first sight of Silver Falls' has got to be it," says Charm.

"You have a point there," says Ebb.

"It's gorgeous!"

"It iiiiis," Charm agrees.

"I am not sure Earth has any places this pretty at all."

"Silver Falls is the prettiest place," says Starlight. "I've been lots of places, I'd know."

"Where does the Queen live?"

"Most of the palace is behind the waterfall," Reflect says quietly, coming a little closer so May can hear her clearly, "but do you see those towers at the very top...?"

She points. There are three slender white towers, one on either side of the top of the falls and one right in the middle of them. The tower on the left has an empty silver circle at the top; the one in the middle has its circle half-filled; and the one on the right is completely silver.

"Those are the visible part."

"Nice."

"Yes," Reflect agrees.

"Okay, let's go to the palace and introduce you to the Queen," says Starlight. As they proceed into the city, he drops back and Reflect takes the lead; she seems to know the place better than the rest of them.

"Have you all met her?"

"I haven't," says Ebb.

"I grew up in Silver Falls. I used to see her a lot, when she made appearances. But I haven't spoken to her," says Reflect.

"When she makes appearances what does she usually do?"

"Announce the change of the seasons, say a little about what's been going on in the kingdom."

"Is announcing the seasons necessary or just ceremonial?"

"Ceremonial, I assume," says Ebb. "We'd notice it just fine by ourselves."

"It was nice to be reminded, though," says Reflect. "And I used to love the celebrations on the first day of autumn."

"The fey near my folks' place used to bake cakes and give everyone some," Charm reminisces. "It's no roast cricket, but it was good."

"Mmm, cake."

"Cake is good," Reflect agrees.

The streets are a little busy this time of night, once they've rounded the curve of the lake and entered the city proper. They pass all sorts of folk on their way toward the cliff. Mostly humanoids of varying shape, size, and colour, but also a few foxes and rats and small wiggly mammals who go by too fast to be easily labeled as ferret or weasel or stoat. Local custom seems to be a bit like a busy city on Earth, although this place isn't nearly as dense: where possible, strangers try to go past without acknowledging one another.

So May doesn't try to say hi, but she does gawk discreetly at everything.

It's pretty gawkable. The buildings are indeed clearly built with accessibility in mind: doors tend to be saloon-style, there are upper-floor entrances for winged folk... No one thought about wheeled contraptions, but she's mostly covered just by the sheer range of existing needs: a bear and a weasel can't really use the same set of stairs, so when they start to go up the cliffside it's all gradual inclines.