Sunbeam Lair sterb’ ich vor liebessehnen

Silence hung in the air for a moment, and oddly the absence of sound seemed louder than the echo of Rue's voice as it disappeared into the depths of the chamber.  Finally Mahler's voice replied, cheerful enough despite the initial pause. Had she interrupted something? Hunting for herbs he confirmed for her, as if Rue had spoken her question aloud. 

Rue took a few more steps into the cave, placing her footfalls carefully as her vision adjusted to the darkness. Her honey eyes were drawn to a rustle of movement in the shadows. Mahler's statuesque silhoutte appeared, the contours of his body fading and reforming as he glided through the spots of sunlight dappling the cavern's inner santum. Rue's heart beat a little faster.

"Herbs?" Rue echoed, clinging to the topic like a drowning woman to a hunk of flotsam. Anthing to distract her mind from the disconcerting pounding in her breast. "I.. can't believe anything can grow in here," she continued. "Could I see what you've collected?"

There were conflicting parts of her that wanted to be simultaneously much nearer to Mahler and also about a hundred miles away. Surely if she moved closer, he would be able to hear her heart walloping against her ribs like a caged animal. And yet she started forward, drawn in by an irrepressible force not unlike that which had brought her to the cave's entrance in the first place.