Stavanger Bay Smoking Embers

She had barely registered Ia’s cautious movements as she watched the way Andr had finally acknowledged her. Her name like a summer breeze on his lips. Blinking, as if surfacing from drowning waters, she refocused on the pair. His protective stance, the way they leaned into each other.

Why had he not let me do the same?

Eyes of the sun burned with unshed tears. Fleurette refused to let them fall. This was not the time, nor the place, to fall apart. Not in front of Ia, who had hunkered herself down again, wrapping herself around Andr. Was she claiming him!? Does she know that Andr was the male who Fleurette spoke of back in the cave? Had she already known? No, she couldn’t have...

…right?

Shaking her head, she spoke to Andr. “You know her.”

It was not accusatory; it really wasn’t anything more than a statement. She felt numb, like she did when she came to on the shores of the Coast. “I was coming to find you, to help Ia…I-I didn’t know what to do. I—you left me—“ Her thoughts were crashing against her skull, barely registering as they broke onto each other. She didn’t know what else to say, but…

“You…know…her.”