Stop!
We don’t trust him yet!
“It’s a two-way street of intermingled terms,” he said. “Some terminology came from our realm and spread to yours, others came from yours and spread to ours.”
He leaned casually on the counter as more and more computers and phones appeared. They were all made of that special magical glass I’d seen, nothing like my old one.
“Long ago, the human realm had more magic and people from your realm and ours came and went freely. Hence all our terminology of angels and demons passed into your vernacular.”
Huh, so those terms came from here originally? Curious.
“More recently, visitors to your realm marvelled over your advancements in technology and wished to copy it using magic. Hence, we now have phones and computers, your words which we use.”
Fascinating.
By that point the clerk was ready to tell us all about the items on display. In this world, it seemed people didn’t care about “gigs” or “RAM” or “megapixels.” The clerk spoke of “A.R.U.s” and “clarity rates” and “internal intelligence modules.”
My eyes glazed over.
I’d never been one for tech-speak and this whole new version went right over my head.
“You pick the best,” I told Vyns.
He did.
And it cost — Saldrea — four gold coins for the computer and phone.
Four weeks worth of spending money for me.
Then I looked around the small shop — since we were already here — and the small selection of clothes, which seemed much nicer than what I’d bought. So, I asked to see more.
I came away with three very nice dresses, several pairs of — much sexier and not school branded — panties and magical bras to match. Yes, magical bras… which adjusted to your size to fit you perfectly. I also got some nicer shoes, stockings, some camisoles and other items to fill out my wardrobe.
That was another three gold.
By then I wanted to get out of there, feeling like someone was going to accuse me of stealing all this. But our final purchase was a carry-all handbag, a mini version of those infinite storage boxes. It wasn’t infinite, it could only hold about five hundred pounds or five cubic feet of stuff, but still…
The bag alone cost nearly as much as all the rest.
I hurried out, feeling more than a little out of place in that building.
“Anything else you’d like to know? Places on campus you’d like to see?” Vyns asked.
He was trying hard.
But was it an act?
I usually had a pretty good read on people, and heseemed genuine in his desire to help me. But… why?
So, I asked him.
He blew out a long breath as we ambled along smooth stone-paved paths. My new handbag was light as a feather despite everything in it.
“Because you’re… different.”
“Different?” How? Compared to who? Saldrea? Hell right, I was different than her.
“Everyone here is so inured to the power dynamic. They don’t question it. Elves rule and others get by, mostly by serving and fawning over elves. But not you.”
