Dedicated to my friend Sara, who wanted to know more about the society.

***

Verunt walked by Amber's side on the paved stone. They had just turned in on the wide main road leading through the city like a twisted trunk. The rest of the city's smaller streets were attached to it like branches. Further to their left it passed out through the tall city gates, over the river, to connect the farmlands. The broad street was crowded with farmers, horses, merchants, politicians, musicians and ordinary townsfolk. They shouted, whinnied and played music over each other. 

Around him walked people of colors and shapes he'd never met before. Together they had an endless variation of hair-, eye- and skin colors, facial structures and body types. Despite their differences, they all wore similar clothes and had the same melodic accent.

Verunt followed Amber north, further in to the city with the stream of farmers on their way to the market. As they walked, Verunt saw a massive, vertical side of a mountain. It was split neatly in two by a big waterfall that threw itself over it's edge.

Even though the sun stood high on the sky behind them, it did a poor job of warming Verunt. Every time he passed through a shadow, or a gust of wind blew, his bones turned to ice within his leather cloak. Amber however wore only a light mint green dress with a darker belt, oblivious to the cold he felt. Passers stopped to stare at his ragged clothes and backed away once they realized they were of leather.

Verunt wasn't used to being trusted, but it stung nonetheless to have his sense of freedom removed. It made sense to have him under constant watch, he never would have let himself roam freely in a city either.

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Amber took a deep breath of the fresh spring air. The last snow had melted away only days ago, yet the trees had already begun to show their leaves. It felt good to be outside in the sun, surrounded by the old stone buildings, instead of closed up in the sterile infirmary. All of the houses within the walls were made of various kinds of stone blocks. Amber had read stories of how a great fire, hundreds of years ago, nearly had burned down the whole city. Thousands had died, and even more books and scripts had turned to smoke. Once the rebuilding began it was decided that nothing in the city were to be built in anything but solid, fireproof stone.

At last they came to a halt outside a green door. They were now so close to the wall that they could hear the waterfall and the dance of the waves it caused. Through both windows on either side of the door they saw heaps of fabric in wonderful colors and astonishing patterns thrown upon each other, blocking the sunlight.

Though messy, the windows had made a poor attempt to prepare them for the sight inside. A gust of dust filled air and an explosion of color greeted them. In the ceiling hung crystals like those in the infirmary, but these all had an unique glow, making the room seem to be inside a rainbow. Mannequins in a variety of shapes stood like trees in a forest with half sewn and finished clothes draped on them. In the middle of this chaos sat a grey haired lady behind a desk, sewing with steady fingers on a deep purple dress.

The chaos had increased during the years for what the tailor had explained to Amber as "diverting-purposes". She had grown tired of the amount of customers who gave her too demanding orders and found that a messy environment had the trick to divert them to other tailors, leaving only those who truly appreciated her skill.

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Almost an hour later Verunt left the shop feeling like a tree. His ragged cloak was thrown away and his old leader pants had been swapped for a smooth pair with the look of bark. The warm tunic he wore looked like bright, thin boards sewn together and had wide sky blue bands around the waist and at the end of the sleeves. It had taken Amber, with the help of the tailor, the greater part of an hour to convince Verunt to have Amber buy new clothes for him. They had explained their view on animals, how they never used them for clothes and how stupid it would be to wear leather to a court were everyone would instantly see him as a murderer.

But they couldn't make Verunt toss away his beloved boots. They were the two things that reminded him of who he was. His parents had given him them when he got top scores in a school application test. His younger brother had gotten a matching pair of him before he had to leave. Without them he would have felt completely lost.

Amber led Verunt forward on the alleyways, seemingly without a destination in sight. They passed over the wide river on stone bridges multiple times and saw fishermen in small boats, wealthy people floating forward in long narrow canoes and even a few bold youngsters daring each other to take the season's first swim.

The sun had begun to descend once they arrived at the market. The air was thick with scents of spices, horses and grilled vegetables. Colorful fruits laid in heaps before the farmers who all tried to grasp their attention. Verunt recognized apples, pears and plums, but some he had no name for. A small pile of big, yellow-orange ovals caught his attention. Each had a tall crown of leaves looking nothing like anything he'd seen.

"How can they be selling fresh fruit now?" Verunt asked smelling one of the fruits. "The trees aren't even green!" he went on, pointing at a tree next to them.

Amber laughed soundlessly and showed him a couple of long greenhouses with her magic.

"Do you ever feel trapped?!" echoed a voice from the middle of the market. "Do you crave freedom?!"

Verunt put back the fruit, walked towards the voice and saw a short man standing on a box. He wore torn but clean grey clothes and a small bronze pin in the shape of a fish and a hawk.

"Join me and we'll take it together!" he continued determinedly. Some people close by gave him an applause, a brown haired girl amongst them even cheered.

Verunt looked back at Amber, who stood rooted to the spot, and then back at the short man. Why would anyone want to leave a city this wonderful? he thought as a guard came through the crowd to escort the short man away. And why wouldn't they be allowed to in the first place?

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