Page 43 of Sanctuary and Spices
He helped me dress, his hands lingering as he showed me how to secure the wrapped panels. The fabric settled perfectly against my skin. He added one of his shirts, the sleeves rolling easily to my elbows.
“Keep it,” he said quietly. “It suits you.”
Heat bloomed in my chest at wearing his clothes. At how right it felt.
He caught my hand as I reached for the door. “One more thing.” He pulled me close for a kiss that made his markings pulse with light. “Now you can go.”
I hurried through the early-morning corridors, passing the first market vendors setting up their stalls. My fingers kept straying to my lips, remembering that kiss.
Focus. Festival. Work to do.
The Wanderer’s Rest kitchen buzzed with activity when I arrived. Pix darted between transport containers floating on cushions of Leyline energy, poking at control panels with reckless enthusiasm.
“I could boost the cooling efficiency by at least thirty percent?—”
“No.” I grabbed their hand before they could modify anything. “We need these containers working perfectly today. No experiments.”
“But—”
“What did we discuss about explosive improvements?”
They sighed dramatically. “Not during service hours.”
“Exactly. Help me load these crystallized honey cakes instead.”
Soryn stood at the kitchen entrance, directing a steady flow of delivery crews as they moved between the café and the adjacent square. “Crystal-enhanced items go to the garden-side booths,” he instructed, pointing. “Standard transport for everything else.”
Ronhar moved between the garden and the café’s loading area, harvesting the last of the delicate ingredients. The plants reached toward him as he passed, responding to his presence in ways I still couldn’t quite explain. They stretched toward me, too, when I crossed near them, their glow faint but insistent.
“The Jhyra opened early,” he said, handing me a basket of iridescent petals. “They’ve never done that before.”
His markings brightened when our fingers brushed.
“Perfect timing then. I wanted to garnish the spring rolls with them.” I turned back toward the prep station, burying myself in final recipe adjustments, trying to focus on work rather than how his presence made my skin tingle.
“The festival square looks incredible,” Pix announced, bounding back into the kitchen from the delivery run, their antennae practically vibrating with excitement. “They’ve set up these amazing glowing pathways that lead straight to the café garden! And the Jhyra are already catching the light—makes the whole place feel alive!”
“Tell me while you help pack these sauces.” I handed them a crate of carefully labeled bottles.
“They’ve got crystal patterns embedded in the ground that light up when people walk over them,” Pix continued, grabbing the bottles with enthusiasm. “And floating installations for the bioluminescent displays—oh, and the Pel’ax booth next toours has their mushrooms growing in these humidity-controlled domes. It’s wild!”
“The Pel’ax requested higher humidity,” Ronhar added as he passed us, setting down a tray of freshly harvested herbs. “I made adjustments to the garden’s moisture shields this morning to compensate.”
“Everything’s thriving lately,” I murmured, glancing at him. The Jhyra in his hands seemed to glow brighter as he turned toward me. I remembered how the plants had reached for us both last night, their energy humming in tune with something unspoken between us.
Soryn cleared his throat pointedly, breaking the moment. “The first wave of supplies needs to be out in ten minutes. Let’s move!”
I stepped back, heat rising in my cheeks. “Right. Pix, help me with these last few boxes?”
The rest of the loading process continued in carefully controlled chaos. I lost myself in the rhythm of packing and checking, trying not to let my attention drift to Ronhar every time he passed nearby. His markings still pulsed subtly brighter in my presence, though everyone—mercifully—pretended not to notice.
Once everything was packed and ready, we moved outside to the festival square, where the transformation left me momentarily speechless.
The Grand Promenade had become a glowing masterpiece. Pathways of light stretched from the square to the Wanderer’s Rest, with trails leading directly into the café garden. Bioluminescent displays lined the walkways, their soft glow blending seamlessly with the garden’s natural light. Floating platforms hovered above the square at varying heights, creating layers of activity that felt both vibrant and harmonious.
“The Krythari really outdid themselves this year,” Soryn said, his gaze sweeping over the crowd of vendors and workers as they set up their spaces.
Nearby, a Pel’ax merchant adjusted the moisture levels in their mushroom domes while an Aurenai trader hung delicate light-catchers that refracted the glow into shimmering rainbow patterns. Everywhere I looked, the space was alive with motion, color, and energy.
