Sameer looked out onto the streets of Aven, tracing the patterns of people that swathed the stonework. He leaned back on the sacks of potato that had been heaped there, playing absentmindedly with the only coin he had.

Eventually, he worked up the courage to stand up and cut his way through the tall adult legs until he reached the fruit stand, laden with the goods of the Empire’s foreign trade business. The man at the counter raised his eyebrows slightly, in a mix of mirth and surprise.

“Hey, child, what will you be buying, then?”

Sameer glanced shyly up and handed his coin over.

“Let’s see. This will buy” – here the man rolled a few pieces of fairly plain-looking fruit out – “any of these. Mm?”

Sameer nodded and grabbed a peach.

The man chuckled. “All right, young man.”

Sameer nodded again and padded back to his customary spot among the potatoes. He rubbed the skin of the peach against his cheek and then started eating.

He was still left with an empty feeling when he finished.