Fey were an unusual sight in cities. While modern building regs required iron to be magically insulated, the amount of it involved in any urban sprawl messed up leylines no end. To a fey this made walking down the average human highstreet like trying to navigate a funhouse corridor; things were constantly closer or further than they seemed, a left turn got muddled with a right, stuff popped up out of empty space or vanished when you turned your head.

But if you could wrap your mind around it… learn to read the crests and peaks formed by iron and copper and map them to the world… you had an uncontested playground.

Amanda didn’t garner a second glance as she sauntered down the street. Her gleaming bronze skin, tidy bun of auburn hair, and sparkling amber eyes weren’t far off human. A slim build and unremarkable height meant she practically vanished into the crowd.

Her flowing green linen dress and leather sandals were perfectly chic, the height of this summer’s style. Someone would have to look closely to notice the sandals’ buckles were brass rather than steel. And if they did, they’d probably assume this was to match the copper jewellery decorating her arms and pointed ears.

Just like iron repelled the flow of magic, copper attracted it. Amanda walked in a rippling cocoon which insulated her from any uncomfortable magical disruptions.

She glanced down at her watch (rose-gold, another comfortable metal), and nodded with satisfaction. Good. Plenty of time before the meeting. Always lovely when the trams matched the schedule.

And, since she had no interest spending that time loitering in a stuffy waiting room, she turned left into her favourite oasis.

Ahhh. Despite being crowded the park was pleasantly quiet - at least compared to the traffic now muffled by the tall stately hedge. Amanda wove through the crowd with the careless grace of a fish darting through reeds and - without anyone even noticing - took a seat right by the fountain which had *just* been freed up by a harried commuter.

The stone bench was pleasantly warmed, both by previous occupants and the sunshine, and accepted her in a wordless hug as she leant back and admired the leaves rustling overhead. Savouring the gentle living buzz surrounding her, soaking her stress away like rain on parched ground.

She dug in her handbag for her phone, whose colourful plastic case discretely concealed that it was the *iron-less* model. So nice that major brands were catching up to the untapped market. Used to be you had to get everything custom-made. That was why she’d signed up as a Court representative in the first place - generous expenses system. Especially when you were taking posts no-one else was willing to consider.

No urgent emails? Excellent. That meant she could fritter her ten minutes of sunshine on social media. Amanda took a deep sip of her iced coffee and marvelled that people thought she’d ever want to trade the city life for some forest.