Herbalists' Cache No Sugar Tonight

It was time to go home. Alya could not stop thinking about Moonspear - its high peaks, the snowmelt streams, the conifers, the snow, the Cerberus's cave. Sometimes it all felt like some distant dream, and sometimes she could almost taste the cool mountain air once more.

But, as much as she wanted to return home, she also wondered what would become of this place in her absence. And she wondered about her sister, Korei. Had the other girl come back to this place since their meeting? Had she thought of Alya at all, or was it all just water off her back? Alya hated to think that she'd been more affected by the encounter than her long-lost sister, so she headed back to the grove that day in search of Korei's scent.

What she came across instead was something far more pleasant.

Her actions this time around mirrored their first meeting. Alya watched from afar, admiring the male's sinuous grace. A sudden, visceral memory of the way those long, limber legs had felt wrapped around her hips sent a shiver down her spine. Still, she did not approach him.