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Madja was accustomed to stopping and pushing her way past the crowds to get a close look at the goods each stall sheltered. With Sevrrn by her side, the people were keen to clear a path. Even those who didn’t turn to see him in all his stately glory seemed to possess an instinctive awareness of him, unconsciously milling out of the way as he walked by.
Although she was excited to be out on the town and eager to browse the shops, Madja was oddly self-conscious. Each time she felt like stopping to look at something, she found herself furtively glancing over at Sevrrn, trying to gauge his expression.
Given that he spoke her language, she had ascertained that she was not the first human he had met. But as far as she knew, this was his first exposure to the human world. Her world. She knew that if she had any hope of visiting town on a regular basis, he would have to come away with a good impression.
For once, Sevrrn wasn’t giving anything away. His eyes remained fixed on the path ahead, his face displaying nothing more than cool indifference. Given that he lacked either the ability or inclination to feign emotions, she couldn’t help but feel discouraged.
“When I was little, my father and I stayed at a really nice i
After their discussion about her spoon, Sevrrn had oh-so-graciously offered up two gemstones and a golden flask for trading. Between the three items, they’d certainly get enough silvers for a few nights at an i
Sevrrn gave a small nod of acknowledgement, but otherwise remained silent.
Growing increasingly uncomfortable, Madja looked around for something that might engage the dragon’s interest. Both her eyes and nose were drawn to a wooden stall. It was painted blue with a roof made of a faded cotton fabric. Within the stall was a man with messy brown hair and two young girls who appeared thoroughly bored. On the table were two trays, a large one with elaborately stacked fish cakes and a much smaller tray with a sign that read: free samples.
Madja tugged on Sevrrn’s sleeve, gently guiding him over to the stall. There was a ragged looking man in line ahead of them who was stuffing one of the flakey cakes into his mouth. As Madja drew closer, her nose wrinkled at the smell of stale beer.
“Are you pla
The surly man picked up another cake from the sample try. “Sign says ‘free’. It don’t say how many.”
While the owner tried to explain the meaning of the word ‘sample,’ Madja waited patiently. After a moment of standing in line, Sevrrn looked between her and the stall, frowning.
“What are we doing here?” he asked.
Sheepishly, she said, “I thought maybe you’d like to try a fish cake. They’re pretty good.”
He looked even more perplexed. “Then why are we standing here?”
“We have to wait our turn,” she said, lowering her voice.
“Why?”
Now, Madja was the one confused. How was she supposed to explain basic human etiquette to a dragon god?
Apparently, Sevrrn didn’t care to wait for her answer. He placed a single index finger on the surly man’s shoulder and pushed him to the side. The man stumbled, coughing up flakes of fish. Face red and fists clenched, he looked prepared for a fight. But when he craned his neck up to look at Sevrrn, he blanched.
Even without knowing who or what Sevrrn was, the dragon god’s tall, muscular human form was as intimidating as it was handsome. Muttering something under his breath, the man skulked away.
“Thank you for that,” the shop owner said. His green eyes were alight with gratitude. “That drunkard comes by every afternoon to clear out my sample tray.”
Rather than respond, Sevrrn looked to Madja and asked, “If that man is such an inconvenience to him, why does he not do something himself?”
Madja felt her face heat. She cast the now-flustered shop owner an apologetic look.
Sevrrn picked up a fish cake, held it under his nose for a few seconds, and then handed it to Madja. Then, he took one for himself.
“They’re made from mackerels,” the shop owner said, having regained his composure. “I caught them just this morning.”
Madja took a small bite, while Sevrrn swallowed the cake whole.
“It’s delicious,” Madja said, doing her best to maintain eye contact with the shop owner as Sevrrn helped himself to another cake. “I’m afraid we haven’t yet picked up any local currency, but I’ll be sure to stop buy later and purchase several.”
The man smiled, his eyes brightening. “It would be a pleasure to see you again, ma’am.”
After giving him a polite goodbye, Madja took Sevrrn by the arm and pulled him away. To her mortification, he had eaten the entire sample tray.
Although her feet ached, her steps were lighter as they headed down to the pier. Now that he had eaten, Sevrrn seemed to be in better spirits and even became a bit inquisitive. He asked questions about different objects that he saw and was quite intrigued by the foreign languages he overheard.
Once at the pier, they stopped into the merchant’s guild. There, they were able to sell the flask and gemstones. Though Sevrrn was the one who had chosen the items he was willing to part with, Madja could practically feel the displeasure radiating off him as the broker took his former possessions and handed them a sack of coins.
“We got a great price for them,” she assured him later as they walked along the pier.
Sevrrn pressed his lips together, before saying, “There is one thing I do not understand.”
“Hm?”
“Why did we give that small man my gems and trinket at all? It is not as if he could have stopped me from taking his silver.”
For the first time, Madja realized that bringing him here might have been a mistake. She hadn’t known just how unfamiliar he was with human society and she regretted not taking the time to teach him.
“Well, for starters, stealing is against the law. If we took something that didn’t belong to us, we’d go to jail.”
He arched a brow. “And who will put us in this jail? More humans?”
“I know what you’re thinking, but you have to remember that these laws are made by humans and for humans. If we didn’t follow them and everyone took what they wanted, it would be anarchy. Society would collapse.”
“Humans laws seem to only serve the weak.”
“Maybe you’re right,” she told him. “But if there weren’t laws to protect the weak, people like me would always be used and taken advantage of.”
Even as she said the words, Madja recognized the irony in them. Laws had been what had condemned her father and had torn her from her home in the middle of the night, leaving her for dead in a dragon’s lair.
“No one will ever take advantage of you,” Sevrrn informed her. “I would not allow it.”
A smile spread over her face. “So, I guess what you’re saying is that you would make it a law that no one could take advantage of me?”
“I would not need to make any laws,” he said matter-of-factly. “I would merely kill any who attempted to do you harm.”
“You can’t keep me safe from everything, silly.”
Madja realized that she must have been spending too much time with Sevrrn, because that almost sounded romantic to her.
They walked along the pier for a little while longer, discussing human laws and standards of behavior. Madja was surprised to find that he did know a few things about human conventions, though most of what he knew was rather archaic.
The i