Gatewright by J. M. Blaisus

I
just got in last week.  I normally wouldn’t show it, but this lady has
been kind to me.”  He turned to rummage through the shelves behind the
counter.
    I
tried to figure out how to say I wasn’t interested without offending either of
them.  Riven reached out and gently took the offered necklace, turning it
over in his hands, and I bent in closer to inspect the beautiful stone.
    “Tiger’s
eye is best for protection and problem solving.  It’s not directly tied to
an element, which may be beneficial in your case as a passive user,” Riven
explained.
    This
also gave me the chance to peer at his cuffs.  “What’s amber for?”
    “Amber
is for fire.”  He shrugged off my question.
    Oh,
no, I had plenty of practice playing that game with Jack.  “Yeah,
but I’m guessing a lot of stones are.  Why amber?”
    My
persistence threw him off.  “I chose it as my main focus when I was
young.  Amber is used for confidence, luck, and love.  In some ways,
like your necklace.”  He took the opportunity to show off his knowledge
about the human world.  “Roses are a symbol of love on Earth – I assume
your necklace was a gift?”
    I
self-consciously raised my hand to my throat.  “From my best friend. 
Her name is Rose.  I think she was making it for herself when she found
out that I was leaving so she gave it to me instead.”  It really shouldn’t
have been important to me that Riven knew I was single.
    The
jeweler, not understanding our English, feared his sale was about to walk away,
and jumped back into the conversation.  “I can give you the necklace for
just five gold, as a gesture of goodwill.”
    Riven
was handing the necklace back, but if I was going to go spend my money, it
might as well be on something lasting.  “Yes.”  I produced my only
five gold rings.  “Thank you, sir.”
    As
we walked away from the booth, Riven handed me the
necklace.  “You are aware you won’t receive additional funds, yes? 
For the rest of the trip?”
    “He
said it was a gesture of goodwill.”  I secured the thick leather string
around my neck.  The stone hung several inches below Rose’s work, and
settled comfortably right where my cleavage started.  “I assume it was a
good deal.”
    “Well,
no part of my oath to protect you includes providing loans or gifts,” Riven
grumbled.  “I’m here to keep you alive.  I will admit it’ll be
easier to look after you if you’ve got at least some magical defense, as weak
as this is on a passive.”
    “A
passive?”
    “Yes,
even fey now and then are as magically-deficient as you are.  Now, help me
find Kim and Neville.”  He took off down the street, and I followed,
glaring at his back.  I’d show him passive, all right.
     
    Our
next stop was a grocery, where we learned about their refrigeration
process.  Individual farms sent their produce to the city in carts. 
Water mages, amayi, kept the food fresh; they earned lucrative stipends
creating iceboxes for food preservation.  This grocery could sustain a
large inventory due to the fact the grocer himself was amayi , and he personally
ensured the quality of his stock, especially for meat products. The fey only
kept livestock and poultry for dairy and eggs, and meat was considered a fickle
and somewhat distasteful addition to a meal.  I got the impression they
saw meat consumption the same way some Americans saw sushi, frog legs, or
haggis.  We ate lunch there, the grocer providing samples of fresh Anowir
delicacies.
    As
the day grew longer, Kim and I explored, separately wandering ever farther from
our guide and Neville.  Riven was forced to keep bouncing between me (who
kept trying to talk to the locals) and Kim (who was trying to learn more about
the technical aspects of their economy).  Fey bustled about, the booths
and shops closing in preparation for the festival, and some revelers pre-gamed
in full view.  Liquor laws and public intoxication were clearly not an
issue.  Yet all