Young Neris stood rooted in place long after Aurelia Flameborne disappeared around the corner, her copper-red braid swaying like a trail of fire behind her. Even after she vanished into the halls of Emberhold, her presence lingered like embers in the cold air.
The courtyard of Emberhold still hummed with the echoes of the summit, laughter and clinking goblets drifting through warm southern winds. Yet all he heard was the fading rhythm of her footsteps.
Neris remained frozen where she had left, staring at the corridor through which she had disappeared, as if by some miracle, she might step back into the courtyard.
She didn't return.
The memory of her laughter, the defiance that had burned in her eyes, the way she had stood so effortlessly against the suffocating heat—he could not shake it. She was fire incarnate, and he, accustomed to ice, found himself drawn to her warmth in ways he did not yet understand.
