Grayson and Fera walked down a wide concourse packed with people. Grayson looked around at the elegantly carved pillars with shaped glowing stones that lined the street. There were two lanes for carriages, carts, and similar conveyances. On either side, there were wide walkways with displays, tables, and various merchandise spilling out of open walls to impede foot traffic with commercial opportunity. People of all descriptions were sitting at tables eating or browsing the various merchandise.

  It was the first time Grayson really noticed the mix of races and species in the city. Thinking about it, the village was more diverse than most pre-industrial cities and villages he'd seen in his time travelling. He considered asking Fera about it, but hazarding a guess about the reason, he decided not to. The city and village were on the border of a slave holding empire. Diversity probably came from the escaped slaves fleeing over the mountains.

  Even if the likely reason for the diversity was unwholesome to put it mildly, Grayson still found the mix interesting. It wasn't just humans and species that were extremely similar to humans like elves or dwarves. There were orcs with skin and hair in shades of green, animal people in various forms from wolf people covered head to toe in fur to those who were more like regular humans with ears and tails, and everything in between. There were people descended from reptiles, amphibians, birds, and mammals. Grayson guessed the level of visible humanity was based on a level of interbreeding between the various species.

  Instead, Grayson asked Fera about life in the city. She'd lived here for a few years before she'd finished her time as an acolyte and been anointed as a priest or Perimis. She told him stories about the people she'd known. The concourse they were on was only a couple of streets away from the temples and knight compound. Fera hadn't been there for two years, but most of the shops she remembered were open.

  For the first hour the pair wandered, bouncing rapidly from stall to shop to cafe. They were planning to walk around for a few hours, do their shopping, then get food at a small restaurant Fera knew before returning to the temple of Perimis. Fera brought Grayson up and down the concourse, pointing out shops that sold particularly good clothes for a good price, or nice trinkets. Grayson paid close attention to Fera as they looked over displays. He wanted to get her a gift for everything she had done for him and did his best to track her interests.

  Two hours in, they ended up in the same shop Fera had bought her own saddlebags in two years ago. The bags Grayson bought were slightly larger than Fera's, which visibly excited her. She was perfectly ready to start filling them up. Grayson did mandate a few purchases before letting Fera get started. He got a couple of hats, a scarf, and a cloak. As much as his clothes could replicate, at the moment their forms were limited. They would need more of the right metals and fabrics if he wanted to expand them. He also got a set of sleeping clothes, comfortable cotton pants and a cotton shirt. Finally he got himself his own set of toiletries.

  And so, finally, Fera got to set loose. Everything Grayson had bought could fit in less than half of one bag. Fera determinedly set out to fill the other bag and a half with things for both of them. They bought several hot stone and cold stone items like a fire starter, a kettle, a stove, drink sleeves, and a small cold-box. Grayson also put together a medical bag, including hot and cold stones for compresses as well as sewing supplies and plenty of different types of bandage. Fera chipped in things she had learned about medical herbs to make poultices and by the end they had a whole satchel.

  The pair had everything short of a tent for sleeping under the stars. Grayson suggested leaving that for now and Fera agreed. By the time they had filled Grayson's saddlebags, they were hungry. They held hands as they walked back up the street, arriving in front of the restaurant Fera remembered. It was smaller than many other places they had passed by, but the owner who came out to greet them recognized Fera. She was an extremely friendly orc who towered over the pair of them. She lifted Fera in a hug, gushing over her and laughing. The restaurant was busy and the trio had to shout to be heard.

  Fera ordered for both of them and they sat down in a relatively quiet corner. Here at least, they only had to moderately raise their voices to hear each other over everyone else in the place. It was twenty minutes before their food arrived, steaks with a vegetable medley and gravy. Fera sighed and flopped back into her seat after the first bite.

  "Oh, they've only gotten better," she said. Grayson's own first bite of the steak caused him to sigh as well. Their lunch had been delicious and satisfying, but frankly it was the kind of experience that you never expected to have and never felt the need to repeat. This wasn't quite the opposite. It was still delicious, but it felt far more like home than the almost impersonal experience of the high class restaurant.

  "I can see why you kept coming back," said Grayson. The pair spoke between mouthfuls. They enjoyed the food immensely.

  "Madam Gheris and her husband really are marvelous cooks," said Fera.

  "They certainly are. This is probably the best meal I've had here," Grayson laughed. Fera snorted.

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  "Even including what we had for lunch?"

  "Well, yeah. Sure lunch tasted good, but let's be real, those staff thought of us as rich peasants. They did their jobs, but they didn't really care about us as people. Here though? You can feel how much they care. It's been two years since you were here right? And they remembered you as soon as you came in."

  "But I was coming in most days. I saw them more than most people." Fera's point was undermined by Madam Gheris greeting another person by name with a large hug before enthusing over their companion who was loudly proclaimed a new boyfriend and welcomed to the family. Grayson laughed hard enough to get Madam Gheris coming over to them. She had a wide smile as she stopped by their table.

  "And what could have brought this on?" she asked, laughing herself. Fera's face was bright red as Grayson tried taking deep breaths to calm himself down.

  "Fera was just telling me about coming here as an acolyte all the time. She was greatly complimentary," he managed. The orc gave him a strange look.

  "That doesn't sound that funny."

  "She was greatly understating your relationship with your customers. The timing with your latest greeting was fantastic." Grayson chuckled.

  "Oh?" asked Madam Gheris as she turned and looked at Fera, who had blushed harder. "We're family, of course." She slapped her hand onto Fera's shoulder, pulling her in for a hug against her waist. Grayson burst out laughing again.

  "Madam Gheris, please..." muttered Fera. Grayson reached over and patted her hand.

  "It's okay, Fera. This is just what you should expect." Fera's head jerked up to glare at him. Madam Gheris stepped around the table to hug him in the same way, squeezing his shoulder harder than necessary.

  "And you need to know when to stop teasing a poor girl," she said. Grayson laughed and apologized to Fera.

  The rest of the meal went by quickly as they made their plans for the rest of the day. Grayson wanted to find the time to split off from Fera to buy her a bracelet and ring she had been eyeing, with gem stones that had a deep golden hue to match her eyes. She had told him that she'd never considered wearing anything like that before, but they looked expensive and Grayson supposed her allowance from the church wouldn't stretch that far.

  As they were having after-dinner drinks, Grayson stood up, claiming to need the toilet. He slipped into the crowd, asking Madam Gheris to keep Fera distracted while he went and bought a gift, paying for their meal and giving the tall orc a moderate bribe at the same time. Sneaking out the front of the restaurant, he jogged down the street to the jeweler who had the ring that Fera had been looking at. The ring was expensive, costing one hundred gold pieces, but he had plenty to spare, given that everything else they had bought was less than twenty combined. A second jog saw him at the second jeweler buying the bracelet, this costing one hundred and thirty gold.

  He made it back to the restaurant just in time, giving Madam Gheris a few gold as thanks for a tip on where to find a good view of the city. It was probably irresponsible to spend his bounty money like this, but amends to the knights and thanks for Fera were worth it to him. He still had the pouch of money that the villagers had given him anyway. He didn't know how much was in it, but there were a couple of gold pieces among the silver and copper so he figured he would be alright. With the small boxes hidden in pockets in his jacket, he took Fera out of the restaurant and into the early evening.

  They strolled around for a while, Fera leading the way between several nearby city landmarks. One of them was a tower that Madam Gheris had explicitly mentioned to Grayson as a good spot. As the sun started to get low, Fera turned to Grayson.

  "It's been a fun day. What do you think of the city?" Grayson kept walking, transitioning subtly from following to leading.

  "It's full of friendly and fascinating people," he replied honestly. Fera followed his lead unconsciously as he brought them back to the tower. He paid the five copper entry fee and brought her to the top, idly chatting about their day with Fera.

  They reached the top just as the sun hit the horizon, the sky a myriad of warm colors. Fera stared out at the sky and where the wonderful colors reflected off the rooves and windows of the city below them. Her eyes and mouth were wide open as Grayson opened his pockets. He gently took out the small wooden boxes that held the ring and bracelet.

  "It's a lovely city," Grayson said.

  "It certainly is," Fera whispered, still staring at the view.

  "But there's something better," Fera stopped and turned to Grayson at his words.

  "What do you mean?" she asked.

  "There's this young lady I met shortly after I came here. Ever since I met her, pretty much everything she has done has been to help me in some way. I couldn't really do anything to thank her properly for everything she did. I did some easy favors for her, but I would have done those anyway, so that doesn't really count." Grayson said, looking at Fera. Fera was blushing again, the sunset making her look almost orange.

  "And you know, I was struggling to find something I could do. You see, this lady has become very important to me over these past few days. I was becoming more and more desperate to find some way to really express how I was feeling," he continued, smiling. Fera had tears in her eyes as she looked at him. He opened the box with the bracelet in it, putting it in her hand. She gasped, covering her mouth. Gently, he took the bracelet and held it with it's clasp open. She gave him her right hand and he put it on her wrist.

  "But even this wasn't enough." Fera's eyes shot from the bracelet and back up to his face, then back down to his hands as he gave them a meaningful look. He was holding the box with the ring inside.

  "I don't know if there's any significance to rings here," Grayson started. "But I can only hope that you can accept this in the spirit that it's intended. I love having you with me Fera. It's far too early for a marriage proposal, but please, as a token of my appreciation..." he trailed off. Fera had him put the ring on her finger before jumping up and hugging him tightly. He held her, not wanting to let go. They stood in the dimming sunlight, the view forgotten. Fera whispered in his ear.

  "Please, don't wait too long. I love being with you too."