War of Dragons by Andy Holland

large, round building, grand and stately in design, and like Immigration House, surrounded by well-kept gardens. "There doesn't seem to be many people on the streets here," Arthur noted. "I would have thought it would be busier, especially around such an important building."
    Mark shook his head. "You're looking in the wrong direction. We don't walk that much," he replied. "Look up, and you'll see how much activity there is."
    Crystal looked to where Mark was pointing and realised that there was a hive of activity above them, with a stream of Golden Dragons taking off from and landing on a large balcony on the first floor of the Parliament House. It was a wonder that they didn't collide.
    "Of course, I forgot to look up," Arthur said. "Although we can fly, people usually enter through the ground level in our buildings, other than our military, who need to take off quickly if we're under attack."
    "Something that you won't experience here," Leah told them confidently. "There's probably no safer place than this city. Anyway, moving on. The next building is the Presidential Palace, and just beyond that is the City Circle, which is a really big, open space where the President gives all of his speeches. It's the centre of the city."
    "So what's a President?" Seth asked. "Is that just your name for your King?"
    "You could put it like that," Leah replied. "Officially, he is the leader of the country, although I think you'll find our Presidents are very different from your Kings."
    "The President is largely powerless," Mark explained. "He's just a figurehead. Power really sits with the Parliament and the Speaker, who is the leader of the largest group of representatives."
    "But he lives in that huge Palace?" Jenna asked, marvelling at the impressive building ahead of them.
    Mark nodded. "Just while he's the President. It's an eight year term, and then we choose a new President."
    "You choose your President?" Jenna asked in amazement.
    Leah laughed. "Of course we do. We choose all of our leaders; the President, the members of the Parliament, the regional Council members—"
    "But surely not just anyone could become one of your leaders?" Jenna asked. "It would have to be someone with the right background, surely?"
    Mark smiled. "Anyone could," he replied. "Even Crystal could, if she decides to stay."
    "They let women rule?" Crystal asked in amazement. Even John's lessons hadn't prepared her for this revelation.
    Leah shrugged. "How could they stop us? About half of the members of our Parliament are women, and the last President was a woman."
    "We'll move on to the Sanctuary after this," Mark told them, changing the subject. "We'd love to show you more of the city, but we won't have time today, so we'll just show you the Sanctuary and then after that to Leah's favourite part of the city, which I'll leave her to tell you about. Let's pick up the pace a little. It's just a short walk to the Sanctuary, but we don't want to waste any time."
    Mark led them past the palace and then across the wide City Circle, a large grassy open space which resembled a public park more than anything else, with groups of golden-haired children playing and a few elderly people enjoying the sun. The edge of the Circle was much livelier, being ringed by a busy road, filled with horse-drawn carts carrying all manner of things and merchants plying their goods from noisy markets. Multi-story buildings lined the far side of the road, a mixture of hotels, restaurants and shops. Mark carefully led them across the busy road and to a side road with an arch connecting the buildings on either of the road, inscribed with the words "Welcome to the Sanctuary" spelt out in foot high golden letters, with a wooden gate under the arch, which was wide open.
    "Welcome to the Sanctuary," Mark said echoing the sign, as they passed through the old wooden gate to a narrow but lively street full of activity. "This is my favourite part of the city and I think you'll find it's the most