The bustling of the side street felt like a physical weight as Soren's confession hung in the air. The sounds of the festival... the distant thrum of drums and the high, lonely whistle of a pipe... seemed to retreat, leaving a ringing silence in their place.
When the words reached her, Eris's brain simply stopped. It was as if her internal gears had been jammed with a titanium rod. "You said you love him."
She stared at Soren, her mouth slightly agape, her thoughts a frantic, jumbled mess. What? I never said that. I would never say that. I said something different. How did he...
