Jade's POV
Katherine was already heading home when I turned, just in time to catch one last glimpse of her before she disappeared down the path. Sunlight caught the edges of her dress, and for a moment, I couldn't move. I didn't know what I was praying for exactly, maybe that she'd get home safe. Maybe that she'd smile again soon. Maybe that I'd be brave enough next time to say what I never do.
I lingered longer than I should've. Then I made my way back toward the town square, where the noise and chatter were flickering in the twilight.
Ed and Theo were already by the tavern, half-drunk and grinning like fools.
Ed raised his mug, ale spilling over the sideand waved me over. "Oi! There he is. Lover boy returns."
I rolled my eyes but didn't argue. I just took the spare seat and leaned back while Theo pushed a mug toward me.
"She looked nice today," Ed said, subtle as a hammer. "That dress... you don't see her wear it often."
"She wears it with grace," I muttered without thinking.
That earned me a smug look from both of them.
Ed gave me a sideways glance. "You're really not gonna tell her?"
"Tell her what?" I said, like I didn't know.
Theo whistled. "That you're head over heels for her. That you've been staring like a kicked puppy every time she walks away. Should i keep going?"
I laughed dryly and took a sip. "She's been through enough."
"And you think that makes your feelings a burden?" Ed snorted. "Come on, Jade. She's not made of glass."
"She's haunted," I said. "The kind of haunted you don't fix with words."
Theo leaned in, more serious now. "Maybe. But maybe she needs someone who sees the ghosts and stays anyway."
I didn't answer right away. Just stared into the amber swirl in my mug.
Theo nudged me. "So? What's really stopping you?"
I shrugged. "It's not just the timing. It's… her. She walks around like she's still carrying the fire that took her parents. Like part of her never really left that night. And i don't wanna be another noise in her head."
Ed leaned back with a low whistle. "That's right. But you're not noise, mate. You're the quiet she actually lets in."
That hit harder than I expected.
Theo smirked, lifting his brow. "Besides, you're not exactly subtle. The way you look at her? Even the old baker noticed. Said you were staring like a man who forgot what bread was."
I let out a real laugh at that, shaking my head. "Yeah, well... it's hard not to look."
"She looked really good today," Theo added, teasing. "The corset. The way she braided her hair. I mean, damn."
I shot him a look, half-warning. "Careful."
Theo raised his hands. "Hey, I'm just saying what everyone else's eyes already did. But you, you're the only one she smiles at like that."
Ed grinned over his mug. "You're a goner, man."
"Maybe I am," I muttered.
And just like that, the silence settled again. Not uncomfortable. Just... thoughtful.
My eyes drifted past the rim of my mug, to the fading gold of the square, the way the rooftops looked into each other as if they were sharing old secrets. And suddenly, I was back there.
"She doesn't remember," I said.
"Remember what?" Theo asked.
"The first time I saw her. She was just a kid, at the market with her mom. Laughing about something, sticky juice from a plum on her fingers." I smiled faintly. "I was maybe nine. She was younger. I'd just come from the Fontaine and had this crooked little wildflower in my hand."
Ed squinted. "You gave it to her?"
"Yeah," I said. "Didn't even say a word. Just held it out. She took it like I'd handed her the moon." I said, fingers unconsciously tightening around my mug, like I was still holding that flower after all these years.
"And?"
"She smiled at me. Then ran off. I don't think she even told her mom."
Theo laughed. "And you've been doomed ever since."
"Probably. I didn't even know what to call those feelings back then."
I took another sip, the mug warm in my hands like that wildflower had been.
"But I do now."
That memory stayed with me longer than I'd like to admit. The way she looked at the flower. Like it meant something.
Even now, I don't think it was about the flower. I think it was how she saw things, like the world could still be kind, even if just for a moment.
Ed clapped me on the shoulder. "Well damn. Look at you, getting all poetic on us."
I didn't answer.
Didn't have to.
My eyes drifted back to the path Kathy had taken, already swallowed by night and stars.
"One day," I said.
"When she doesn't look like she's still walking through the fire. I will have the courage to tell her."
They both went quite.
Until the ale started kicking in, because soon Ed was up on his feet, dragging Theo with him toward a pair of girls swaying near the hearth. Laughter echoed through the tavern, boots stomping in rhythm with some half-tuned fiddle.
"Come on, Jade!" Ed called over his shoulder. "She's not the only beauty in town."
Theo winked, already spinning one of the girls in a clumsy circle. "Unless you're scared you'll fall in love twice in one night."
I raised my mug in silent salute but didn't move. The wood beneath me creaked with the swaying of bodies, but I stayed rooted like a man with no dance left in him.
They could laugh, flirt, let the world blur around the edges.
I couldn't.
My mind had wandered back to her again, Katherine, in that dress, eyes always a little too far away. She haunted me without meaning to. Maybe because I'd let her.
Maybe because some part of me wanted to be haunted!!
While Theo dipped his partner with a theatrical flair and Ed pretended he knew the steps, I just sat there, the noise around me growing louder but feeling distant. I took another sip. The ale was bitter now.
She was probably home by now, curled up somewhere quiet, holding all the pieces no one else saw.
And here I was, drinking memories that weren't mine to keep.
Eventually, the music slowed, and they returned, flushed and grinning.
Theo dropped back into his seat with a dramatic sigh. "Gods, I'm getting old."
Ed chuckled, wiping sweat from his brow. "Speak for yourself. I could do another round."
"Not without your back giving out," I muttered, smirking.
They laughed again, then the three of us sat there, side by side, our mugs clinking gently as we drank in the dim glow of firelight.
We stayed like that a while, letting the night stretch. Talking less. Feeling more.
Then, slowly, the tavern emptied.
We paid our due and stepped out into the cool night. Theo slung an arm around Ed, both of them weaving slightly with sleep and drink, murmuring about food or fate or something half-remembered.
I hung back, letting them drift ahead.
Boots to the gravel, stars blinking overhead, I started the walk home alone, a low tune humming in my throat, half lullaby, half memory.
"A wicked siren, you sang to me,
Dragged me down to your endless sea..."
The words barely left my mouth, more breath than voice.
"I swam through shadows, cold and blind,
But you were never there to find..."
The melody clung to me, aching, quiet.
"Oh God, you were a sight to see
The fairest curse that ruined me."
By the time I reached the bend before home, the others long gone, only the night remained still and listening as I carried the song like a promise, into the dark.
"A wicked siren… never there to guide the way…"
I pushed open the creaky door of my room, kicked off my boots, and sank into the bed without bothering to undress.
Sleep came slow, like the song still echoing somewhere in my chest.
And in that silence, I let go just for the night.