ERIS
The sun was beginning to lower, softening everything it touched.
The golden edge of the sky dimmed to amber, spilling over the rooftops of Crimson Port. Behind us, the market still pulsed with fading noise, laughter, clinking coins, the faint echo of a drumbeat carrying through the air.
We walked in silence for a while, side by side. The cobblestones glowed in the dusk, and the river beside us caught the light like molten glass. I could still feel the shawl around my shoulders, its fabric cool and soft against my skin, a strange comfort, a lingering echo of something gentle I didn't know how to hold.
My mind kept circling back to what had just happened, the laughter, the afternoon, Soren standing knee-deep in melting ice and ruined fruit.
It was absurd. Impossible. Wonderful.
Soren broke the silence first, his voice low but edged with amusement. "Quite the afternoon, wasn't it?"
I glanced at him. "I didn't expect… any of that."
