The next day Nicola slept very late, when she eventually woke up she stayed in bed until she started to get a headache.

When she rose, she searched her pack for anything that wasn’t thick travelling cloth, finding a very plain dress she put it on and went to find Ethan. He was in the Kitchen, eating a late breakfast. When he saw her he efficiently set another place at the table for her, the food was simple bacon and eggs on toast. Nicola wolfed it down.

“I have to go out today Nicola, I need to get the train tickets for tomorrow,” Ethan said to Nicola as she ate.

“Train?” she asked between mouthfuls.

“A very fast way to go from one place to another, if we don’t go on the train it’ll take us weeks to get to Dragon Valley from here. On the train we’ll be there in a few days.”

“Oh, Ok.” said Nicola.

“Why don’t you come with me when you’ve finished eating, you can see some of the city and we’ll stop at some shops on the way back to buy you some pretty clothes, what do you think?”

“I… I don’t have any money!” Nicola protested.

“I do,” was all he said.

So, they finished eating breakfast and Ethan led Nicola through the city of Ehleria at a sedate walk, allowing her to take in the sights of this unique city. They came to the train station and as Ethan bought two tickets for them on tomorrow’s train, Nicola found herself staring at the single wide metal rail that was set into the ground for the trains to run upon.

When she asked Ethan about this he told her that the trains floated just above the rail in the same way the elevator was able to move up and down the core of the cone tower, using lodestones. When Nicola asked him to explain just how these worked, Ethan turned to speak to her.

“That’s a little complicated, it’s just one of the things you will learn about at Dragon Valley. Now, I thought we were getting you some new clothes, shall we?”

Reminded of this, Nicola’s enthusiasm redoubled and she virtually skipped all the way to the great building that was their destination.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

After crossing one of the smaller plazas, they entered a very wide tri-corn building. The ground level of this building was once again completely open. However, unlike in the conical tower they were staying in there were many sitting areas here for people to enjoy food and drink that could be purchased from booths scattered throughout the great space.

Ignoring these, Ethan led Nicola straight to an elevator built into an immense structural column near the doors they had entered through and took her to level 5 of the building.

When the elevator halted and the doors opened, Nicola was sure she had come to some kind of heaven; everywhere she looked there were shops selling such a variety of items the village girl was dazzled by them all. To their left there was a shop selling exotic foods, across to their right was one selling furniture, another shop sold small technological gadgets, another specialised in cloth, fabrics and every imaginable tool needed for working with them and across from where they stood was a shop where engineering tools of every kind were being sold.

Ethan led Nicola down broad, curved streets and everywhere they went she stared in wonder as they passed new kinds of shops, each selling different treasures to the one before.

Eventually they came to an enormous clothing store that must have spanned a square mile of floor space on this level and equal space on the level above, which Nicola learned was also devoted to shopping.

They spent the entire afternoon in that store and Nicola tried on dozens of pieces of clothing. When they left, Ethan was virtually staggering under the weight of a great many bags containing beautiful dresses, shoes, blouses and a couple of suits to name but a few of the things he had bought for her. He was accompanied by an ecstatic Nicola. She couldn’t help it, she had never owned so many clothes before in her life!

On returning to Pearce’s home, Nicola took every item of clothing out for minute inspection and admiration. They were beautiful, made from exotic materials she had no name for and they were very comfortable to wear, but after a time Nicola started to feel deflated and empty inside.

“What’s wrong Squirrel?” Ethan asked as he saw her face fall.

“I’ve got nowhere to keep all this, I… I can’t serve the dragons dressed in clothes this fine! I can’t keep these,” Nicola said quietly, tears starting to gather in her eyes.

“Nicola. I can tell you now that these clothes are perfect, I don’t know what you’ve heard, but the dragons take very good care of everyone who serves them and when we reach the Castle at Dragon Valley you’ll have enough space for those clothes and a hundred times more.” More than his words, Ethan’s tone of voice reassured Nicola and brightened her spirits immeasurably.

That evening, Pearce took them both out for a fantastic meal in a restaurant at the outer edge of the tower level where he had his home. They ate next to a great window, looking out at the sunset over the city as it bathed the immense white buildings and plazas in a deep red glow. It was truly beautiful.

When Nicola went to bed that night she fell asleep thinking that the only way this day could have possibly been more perfect would be if her father had been there to share it with her.