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“Yeah, until I opened my eyes and fell.” I peeked over the edge of the bridge again and swallowed. I was not interested in falling from this height.
“Sure, but I caught you, didn’t I? I won't let you fall.”
“What happened to taking it easy today?”
He laughed. “This is easy. All you have to do is…jump,” he stepped off the ledge again. Despite knowing that he could fly, it still made me squeal.
He whipped around under the bridge and appeared on the other side again, still smirking.
“See?”
“Stop doing that.” I gasped as I curled closer to the ground, trying to keep my center of gravity as low as possible. “You’re going to give me a heart attack.” He chuckled again before floating closer.
“Shall I pick you up? I think we just need to rip off the first leap, like a bandage.”
“Amon, I swear to god if you fucking dare,” he ignored me, and before I knew it, he had scooped me into his arms and leapt from the bridge. I screamed like I had never screamed before.
We plummeted to the ground. He squeezed me tight into his chest, smiling against my ear, before he pulled back and we slowed. Gently, he floated us the rest of the way down.
“See, that wasn’t so bad. Was it?” He asked, putting me down on the ground. My knees were wobbling so hard I was sure he could hear them knocking against each other.
“You’re an asshole,” I snapped, but he just gave me one of his best smirks.
“You’re not the first, nor will you be the last to think so, my love.” He quipped, holding his hand out to me. I eyed it warily and he laughed. “I promise, your feet can stay on the ground, for now.”
I took his hand begrudgingly, and he led the way into town.
29
The town itself was picturesque and cozy. The streets were cobbled, and wooden homes with steeply pitched roofs wove in between small shops and taverns. The deeper we strolled into the mountain village, the more crowded the streets became.
Daemons, young and old waved merrily to greet Amon as we walked past. Some of them looked at me curiously, but for the most part, we blended easily into the crowd and people more or less left us alone.
I was delighted when we came to the main square to find an outdoor market. Vendors had tables set up with their bright vegetables, handmade trinkets, and spices. We passed a table owned by the local apothecary, who had soaps and hand lotions of every kind. I picked up a small hand soap that smelled of cinnamon and smiled. It reminded me of Amon.
“How much?” Amon asked the merchant, and she held up three fingers. Amon passed her five emerald shards. The merchant tried to push the extra shards back into Amon’s hands, but he shook his head. He closed his hand over her fist gently, pressing the shards back.
“Please, keep it. It is worth that much and more if it made her smile. Especially after I made her jump off a bridge to come down here.” He joked to the merchant, winking at me. I blushed as the shopkeeper wrapped up my new soap, handing it to me with a grateful smile.
“Thank you.” I said, looking up at him. He grinned at me.
“Of course.”
We passed ‘The Restructium Shoppe’, and I pointed to it excitedly.
“Is that where you bought my armor?” I asked him, and he nodded.
“The Court of Pride is known for restructium armor. My land is riddled with restructium mines, and my people have been crafting armor from it for a millennia. There are merchants in other courts who can make armor from it, but the quality is not the same.” He dipped his head toward the black-on-black storefront I had pointed too. “That shop specifically makes the best armor in the territory.”
“Amazing,” I replied. “Dossidian told me that restructium is one of your main exports. He told me your other main export is emerald?”
“Did he? It would seem Dossidian has been feeling chatty,” he mused dryly, and the corner of his mouth twitched up. “Yes, our other main export is emeralds. Our largest emerald deposits wash up in Aurora’s cove. It’s gated off and not accessible to the public for most of the year. We do open it up for a few weeks around summer solstice for bonfires. There is a large pod of sea drakes that spend several weeks in the cove each summer.
You can usually see them playing from the shore.”
“That sounds… really nice.” I said, trying to imagine it.
“It is. After the Quickening, I can take you there if you like.” I grinned at him and nodded. I didn’t know how he always made me feel like surviving the Quickening was never a question. He just spoke as if we would always have all the time in the world.
