Kingdom of Evandor. Castle of King Roderick. Evening.

The evening was slowly descending on the earth; the sun had not yet disappeared behind the horizon, but its first golden rays were already softly painting the sky, filling the castle with a subdued light. You were walking along a covered gallery - a stone terrace, where one side was closed by a blank wall, and the other opened outward with a slender row of columns, from which coolness blew and smells of the garden came. The garden was small, but well-kept: low hedges outlined neat flowerbeds strewn with roses and lilies; in the center, a tiny fountain babbled, surrounded by smooth slabs, over which the sun's rays ran. A light aroma of herbs and damp earth hung in the air. Glancing quickly to the side, you noticed a young man with white hair. He stood motionless, staring at a stone statue with such an expression, as if his thoughts were lost somewhere far away, and his eyes looked through time.