Page 115 of Mountain of Mirrors and Starlight
He’s either deliberately trying to infuriate me, is the most idiotic person I’ve ever met, or he’s trying to court me,Aislinn realised, and searched his eyes for the answer. Formal or restrained courtship was unusual for faeries, but she’d read a few mortal romance books of her mother’s and she knew thatsomepeople liked to take things slowly…
There was no dishonesty in Caer’s tone. And hewasmortal. She should probably honour his traditions.
Even if she felt she’d explode if she didn’t have him soon.
“All right,” she said. “Let me grab my cloak.”
Caer smiled from ear to ear, and she knew she’d made the right decision.
After all, they had all night.
Avalinth was a city of light, the streets alive and bustling even at this late hour. Somehow, it still cast the illusion of one of the midnight markets of Faerie. There was a feeling of fireflies and moonlight and darkness, even with the clicking of gears and humming of clockwork. It shone like a vat of glitter.
“How does the light work, I wonder?” Aislinn asked, as they wandered through the streets, now keeping a regrettable distance between them.
“Apparently, there’s some kind of river of lava flowing behind the crystal… they control the flow so that it changes intensity. I asked Bell about it earlier.”
“You like it here, don’t you?”
“I admit it’s growing on me. I’m still very uncertain about Venus and Aeron, but this place—it’s fascinating. I want to know how all of it works.”
She could see him here, see him amongst the forgers and the masters, learning his craft, sharpening it, perfecting it. He wouldn’t be lonely, wouldn’t be isolated. He’denjoyit.
And she wanted him to enjoy it.
She just wanted to be there whilst he did.
But she couldn’t stay here, even if Venus allowed it. She needed the sky and the earth and the trees and the wind.
She thought he might miss those things too.
Caer pulled on his gloves and wove his fingers into hers. “Come on,” he said. “There’s a dance to join.”
He pulled her onto a wooden platform in the centre of the streets. A band played a loud, jaunty tune. Caer and Aislinn fell into step with the rest of the dancers, twirling in circles, hopping and hooting and laughing. At one point, the dwarves started throwing each other in the air. No one was strong enough to do that to Aislinn, so Caer gathered her in his arms and flung her upright.
It took a long time for him to lower her back to the ground, and even longer to let go.
She felt like she’d risk her life to kiss him now.
His eyes flickered behind her. “What on earth is that?”
It was some kind of brightly coloured spinning dwarven contraption, composed of fantastical model creatures suspended on golden poles that moved up and down to music. A bystander called it a carousel.
There was no question of whether or not they were trying it. They crammed themselves onto a magnificent horned wargi the colour of sunset and rode until their pockets were light and their hearts lighter, and their sides hurt from laughing too much.
They moved through the foodstands, crammed with roasted nuts, buns of sizzling meat, hard, glazed pieces of fruit and some bright pink cotton-like substance that melted on their tongues and tasted like pure honey. They examined every morsel, played at every booth. There were games of strength, of precision, of agility—games of knocking things down with balls or bolts, of whacking mechanical worms as they jumped out of holes, of hitting discs that could measure force. They played everything, tasted everything, tried everything, and danced until they collapsed by the side of a fountain. It glowed with copper light.
“Who needs magic, right?” said Caer, catching his breath.
Aislinn paused. “You don’t like magic very much, do you?”
Caer opened his mouth, and then promptly shut it again, clearly thinking.
“I’m sorry,” Aislinn said, before he could respond. “That was insensitive of me.”
He frowned. “How so?”
“If my first encounter with magic had been it failing to heal my dying mother, and then bringing her corpse back to life, I don’t think I’d like it very much, either.”
