Such a big staff, with ludicrously little to do, inevitably began interfering with arrangements made by the army commanders. Its actual efforts at coordination were from the start so many wrenches in the works.

As light crept into the square and found her face and figure, the bed-gowned maidservant’s hair and eyes had reflected highlights of the golden stone shaping the house behind her.[…]Shortly after four in the afternoon, Jonys stood staring at the steps the bed-gowned maid had ascended at dawn.

[…] he had been spouting ill-considered politicisms the previous evening yet now, contrariwise, he was silent.

Water […] thickened or condensate.