Page 38 of The Sundered Realms

Here, they were just... everywhere. Doing, it seemed, whatever they wanted. Painting whatever they wanted on the sides of their buildings—like they would be judged on their self-expression rather than expression of community solidarity. Everywhere was made of stone because that was what they had, but what they did with it... everyone got to choose for themselves.

Vhannor paused outside one shop and raised his eyebrows expectantly, and Liris realized its window display was full of love charms. Liris pursed her lips briefly to contain both her annoyance and her amusement.

“Well well, that was nearly an actual expression,” he said. “You’re allowed to have opinions, you know.”

“That’s not the same thing as sharing those preferences with strangers. Would it be polite to tell the shop owners they’re purveyors of lies?”

He rolled his eyes. “There’s a vast difference between offering unsolicited criticism and maintaining an impression of being uninterested in everything.”

Liris blinked. “I’m not uninterested. I’m absorbing as many details as I can, but when nothing is familiar, that takes more concentration.”

“Nothing? What are Serenthuar’s markets like, then?”

“A market in Serenthuar is like the desert has opened on a jewel. From the sands emerge colors more vibrant than any you’ve seen, glass glinting in the sun, rich tapestries floating in the breeze like a mirage, and if you know just the right person to turn to, hidden treasures wait.”

Vhannor frowned at her. “You’ve never been to a market in Serenthuar?”

Her recitation had been perfect. “What gave it away?”

“You have a tendency toward the literal, and you didn’t mention your personal experience of it.”

He’d noticed the omission. “No. My few excursions outside the palace were for educational purposes only and were always highly supervised.”

“And here I am, judging how you react to a market.” He narrowed his eyes at her.

What now? She studied the love charms while she waited for him to get to the point. A trick so politicians wouldn’t find you too desperate.

Vhannor hadn’t been kidding about how common these were, as there were a wide variety of designs: wood or metal, different scripts within a language, forms from bracelets to plaques. Amazing.

He drew up next to her, so close she could feel the heat of his presence and her heart quickened.

He turned the display around, as if they were both looking at it together. Picking out a love charm together.

She wanted to smack her own brain for that thought.

“I don’t want to just recite at you, too,” Vhannor finally muttered. “I’m trying to think what the best way for you to learn this place is.”

Okay, she could talk strategy. “In Serenthuar, my teachers would construct situations like blindfolding me to test what I could discern from smell and sound alone. It was a way to focus on one sensation at a time to build a framework.”

After a long moment of silence, she met Vhannor’s gaze as he stared down at her with a challenging look of her own.

“Was there something?” she asked. He didn’t get to just look at her like that and not tell her why.

“I was thinking more how to introduce you to the market as an experience like a normal person,” Vhannor said carefully.

Liris huffed. “If I knew how to do that, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

“I’m the Lord of Embhullor,” Vhannor said dryly. “I don’t know how to experience a market like a normal person either. Let’s give it a try anyway.”

Okay. Not so much a test of how much she could learn at once then, but more how well she could mimic. She couldn’t replicate internal feelings, but behavior was observable.

After a minute, she carefully asked a question about the purpose behind a lewd drawing on one shop, and Vhannor grinned as he explained the long-running friendly rivalry between the owner and her sister across the street.

Liris ignored the way her heart lifted in triumph at the expression on his face.

She was too honest even with herself to really believe her pleasure was entirely due to a successful casual conversational gambit.

Some adolescents looked embarrassed on Vhannor’s behalf as he recounted the feud, but neither he nor the clerks—who got a raucous laugh out of his rendition—seemed bothered. And when the people who recognized Vhannor looked at him like he was insane for knowing or bothering, or looked discomfited at either his presence or knowledge, he simply continued explaining customs and local history without asking for her conclusions unless she offered them.

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