“Down there,” Navan said, pointing to a peculiar structure in the distance.

I frowned, squinting at it. The place didn’t look like any city square I had ever seen. It stood next to a curved building with golden spires that I presumed to be the old university Navan had mentioned. A high stone wall formed the square, a crosshatched net of tangled bronze rods rising above and across it, like spun sugar cupped over a dessert in a fancy restaurant. Lights glowed through the strange domed roof of bronze branches, reminding me of stars seen through a canopy of trees.

As we landed, the hubbub of voices rose from within the covered piazza. It was a comforting sound, filled with chatter and laughter, and the telltale bark of bartering stall-owners. I threaded my fingers through Navan’s, smiling up at him. We had never been on a real date before, and if this was the closest to one we were going to get, I was more than happy to take it.

A gateway was embedded in the high stone wall of the square, though the two heavy metal doors were swung wide, allowing the public to pass in and out of the piazza with ease. As we stepped through, joining the steady stream of coldbloods entering the market, my eyes went wide with awe.

Flickering candles and glowing string lights twinkled all around, draping from the fronds of willow-like trees. Stalls lined the square, selling all manner of unusual wares. At the center, a band was playing a lively tune on instruments I had never seen before, though some looked vaguely drum-like, and others resembled violins, but these were made from dark metals that glinted in the low light. They still sounded like their Earthen counterparts, making me feel like I was at an Irish jig. As the music enveloped us, I almost felt tempted to take to the floor and lose myself in the melody.

There were other people dancing, a few young couples swinging each other around, but I couldn’t see Navan indulging me in a dance or two. I flashed him a look all the same, nodding in the direction of the music.

He shook his head. “No way,” he said, smirking. “I’ve told you before, I’m a terrible dancer. You’d run away from sheer embarrassment.”

“I’ll get a dance out of you before the night is out,” I said, narrowing my eyes at him, though of course it was an empty threat. As much as I wished we had longer to peruse the stalls and enjoy the atmosphere, I knew we couldn’t spend much time at the market. For one thing, we didn’t know how long it would take to find the poroporo fruit, and we were going to need as much time in the Fazar Mountains as possible to seek it out. Because if we didn’t manage to find the fruit, then we’d have to choose a different method of getting answers about the immortality elixir from Yorrek, a method that probably wouldn’t leave us with clean hands or a clean conscience… I shook the thought from my mind.

Hand in hand, listening to the music drifting through the square, we walked along the outer edges, peering at all the wondrous stalls. Everything was new and exciting to my human eyes. The stalls held everything from strange Vysanthean technologies, to handmade arts and crafts, to curious vials containing rare blood. I wasn’t as interested in the latter type of shop, but the rest had me enraptured.

“This is beautiful,” I murmured, peering down at a dark metal bracelet with a pale gray gem in the center that seemed to be calling my name.

Navan frowned. “You like that?” he asked, pointing at the bracelet that had caught my eye.

I nodded. “Gorgeous.”

“The lady has fine taste,” the shopkeeper purred, picking up the bracelet and lifting it toward me. I held out my wrist to receive it, almost on impulse, my blood rushing in my ears, my pulse racing in anticipation. The ashen-faced woman was about to place it on my welcoming wrist, when Navan snatched my arm away.

“Not today, thank you,” he said sharply as the shopkeeper flashed her fangs at him.

“It would seem your lover doesn’t care for your desires, beautiful mistress,” she snarled, clutching the bracelet to her breast. “A shame. A real shame.”

I frowned as Navan pulled me away from the jewelry stand and pressed me on along the avenue of stalls. I could still feel the almost magnetic pull of the bracelet calling me back, though I couldn’t explain why.

“What was that bracelet?” I asked, still sensing the way my blood had longed for it. “It made me feel all funny.”

Navan glanced around at the stalls. “Some Vysanthean stones hold that power. It’s believed that only certain types of stones work on certain types of people. The way a body responds to that power depends on who, and what, you are,” he explained. “Arcadium is particularly strong to most people, but I’ve never seen anyone respond quite as quickly to its pull before.”

I flushed, remembering the warning I’d been given after ingesting the silver root. It had been a long time since I’d thought about it. So long, in fact, that I’d almost forgotten about the very real issue of how I might react to things, in the future, now that the root was in my system—how it might make me more prone to addictions and vices, my body craving things it wouldn’t normally have wanted, or needed.

“We should hurry up and get the stuff on Queen Brisha’s list,” I said, wanting to change the subject. Even now, the pull of the Arcadium made me feel antsy to return to the stall and have the shopkeeper clamp that bracelet on my wrist.

“We can pick up a few things for our mission too,” Navan replied, running his fingertips absently across the edges of my folded wings. “I know the serum keeps you warmer in our bitter climate, but the northernmost mountains are going to be a different challenge completely. While we’re here, we should get you a better fur and a few other bits and pieces, if I can find them.”

“What sort of things?” I asked as we walked along, my eyes drawn to every sight, sound, and scent that filled the air.

“Yes!” Navan said suddenly, lifting his fist in triumph as he came to a halt beside a stall filled with a confusing array of bric-a-brac. I didn’t know what any of it was, save for a few lamps and a braided rope with a horn on the end that dangled from a hook at the edge of the shop. Navan, however, seemed thrilled by something in the middle of the mess, his hand grasping at a palm-sized amber stone that was buried under scraps of leather and a few motheaten books.

“What is it?” I marveled, peering at the flat, smooth stone.

“This is an emberstone,” he explained. “Basically, it heats up and warms the person who holds it, though it can also be used to make fires, which is why it’s banned in the South as a hazard. Fortunately for us, the North is a little more reckless.” He handed over some money and slipped the stone into my hands.

He was right. A minute or so later, the warmth penetrated my skin, seeping into my veins. Glancing down, I saw that the stone was glowing dimly as I held it between my palms, and its delicious warmth radiated through me.

“Where have you been all my life?” I murmured, reveling in the sensation.

“On a planet, far, far away,” Navan quipped.

I grinned. “I meant the stone.”

“Hey, I can keep you so much warmer than that stone ever could.” He pouted.

“I don’t doubt it, but if I came to you every time I needed to be warm, I’d never get anything done,” I replied with a wink.

“Then we’d better get this list purchased before we get sidetracked,” he murmured, slipping his arm around my waist. We continued along the line of stalls.

He picked up a thick fur next, which I wrapped around my shoulders, and as we continued walking, he kept stopping here and there, picking up items that were listed on the black device Pandora had given him. Apparently, the device was also a payment system that the merchants could scan. With each purchased item, Navan double-clicked the center of the device, making it light up red. I listened to the names as he asked for each ingredient, though they didn’t mean much to me: serotite shavings, parokium ore, maram root, garovian winterberries, liquid romjal. It was all completely alien, in every sense of the word.

“Last thing, then we can get out of here,” Navan promised, checking the list once more. “A vial of aged Ephranian platelets.”

I had no idea who, or what, Ephranians were, but I knew what platelets were, and the thought of such a thing being an easily bought-and-sold commodity made me feel slightly queasy. Once again, I was reminded how cruel Vysanthean trade could be—not that there was much in the way of actual trade. Barely anything was natively grown or produced here, with the majority of items stolen and pilfered and snatched, all at the expense of others.

Navan paid for a small silver vial, plucked from the shelf of a trader who seemed to deal in exotic kinds of alien bodily fluids. As he placed it in the burlap sack he was carrying, Navan suddenly froze. His eyes narrowed as he went over the list again. With anxious hands, he checked through the items in the sack, his mouth moving in silent thought.

“What’s the matter?” I asked, alarmed by the expression on his face.

“I hope she isn’t making what I think she’s making,” he muttered, his brow furrowing.

“Why, what do you think she’s making?” I pressed.

After a moment of stony silence, he shook his head. “Forget I said anything. I’m probably wrong. It’s this place—it makes me paranoid,” he replied, flashing me a smile, though I didn’t quite believe him.

“What do you think she might be making, Navan?” I insisted, but he shook his head again.

“Honestly, I was just being silly. I thought it was something, but I don’t think it’s made that way. Anyway, let’s forget about Queen Brisha. There’s something I want to show you,” he said, taking my hand and pulling me down the avenue of stalls, to one in particular. I wanted to ask about the ingredients again, but I let it go for now, the sight of the items in front of me distracting my attention.

“What are they?” I asked, letting my fingertips trail across the pairs of small gemstones that gleamed on the table in front of me. Within each one, a strange light brightened then died every few seconds.

Navan smiled. “These are climpets,” he said. “They’re tokens that Vysantheans give to their loved ones to wear above their hearts. They feed off emotions, and myth has it that the light only goes out if one person ceases to love the other—though, I think they’re just meant to be a sweet gift, these days.” He picked up a set of pale gems, the color of his slate eyes. “I thought I might buy a pair for us, if you’d like that?” His gaze rested on mine, filled with such warmth that I couldn’t possibly refuse.

“Of course, but I don’t want you spending your money on me,” I said shyly, knowing he didn’t have much to fritter away, since whatever wealth he did have was locked away in the South. We only had the credits we’d earned from our military training, which wasn’t a massive amount, and I didn’t want him to waste it on me, not when he could use it on something more practical.

“There’s nothing I’d rather spend it on,” he announced, holding one of the gems out to me. “Come on, let me buy these for us.”

I smiled, knowing he wasn’t going to back down. “Okay, sir, if you insist.” Navan grinned and paid for the climpets, then handed one to me.

“Thank you… Um, what do I do with it?” I asked.

“Watch.” He took his climpet and lifted up the edge of his t-shirt, revealing the rippling muscles of his torso, and placing the gem against his chest. It remained there when he took his fingertips away, clinging to the skin, the gemstone glittering as the light within glowed steadily.

“Does that hurt?” I asked, staring.

He shook his head. “Nope. Not one bit.”

Taking my own gem, I pulled down the collar of my t-shirt, stretching it all the way across my collarbone, until I had enough flesh exposed that I could place the gemstone where Navan had placed his without having to lift my shirt completely. I wasn’t quite as much of an exhibitionist as Navan, though he seemed disappointed by my discretion.

“I’m not going to lift my shirt up for you in public, so you can get that thought out of your mind,” I joked as I fitted the gem into place. Weirdly, it seemed to sink into the skin, gleaming there. I couldn’t take my eyes off it, and neither could Navan.

He stepped closer and put an arm around me. His other hand came to rest beneath my chin, tilting it upward. I smiled, my eyes gazing into his, relishing the closeness of him, and not caring in that moment who saw or tutted.

“May our light never go out,” he whispered, leaning in to kiss me deeply.

“I hope it never does,” I breathed, smiling against his lips as I kissed him back. My arms looped around his neck, pulling him closer to me.

Not for the first time, I wondered what it would be like, if the moment actually came for us to make love. If we were committing ourselves to one another like this, then surely that had to be in our future somewhere? I wanted to know what I was in for, on a physiological level more than anything else. I mean, what if Vysantheans had different equipment that I had no idea what to do with? Not that I exactly knew what to do with human equipment, either, but even so, I couldn’t help worrying about it. We existed on opposite ends of the universe. We probably weren’t ever supposed to meet, fall in love, and reach those kinds of desires. What if we weren’t… compatible?

As I broke away from Navan’s kiss, knowing we had to leave soon if we were going to reach the Fazar Mountain Range and get back before dawn, I felt an impulse to talk to him about it. I wanted to broach the subject we had been skirting around for weeks, but, once again, it wasn’t the time. It was going to have to wait.

“We should go before it gets too late,” he said, clearing his throat.

I nodded, catching his hand and leading him out of the magical square, with its fairy-glen lights and beautiful music. Taking one final look around, I bade the band goodbye, knowing it would be the last warm sight I’d lay eyes on tonight.