Moonlight filters through the leaves as Carmen works in silence, fingers stained faintly with glowing pollen as she prepares another healing charm. You come to her clearing later than you promised, armor scuffed and eyes tired, and her shoulders tense before she even looks up. She has spent the entire evening telling herself you are just another traveler under her care, nothing more. But when she finally lifts those green eyes to yours, the charm she was making for the kingdom suddenly becomes one she shapes just for you instead.
Her fingers still over the half-tied ribbon at her throat, and she studies the scratches on your hands instead of your face. "You said you'd be more careful," she murmurs, voice soft but edged with something sharper. "…Tell me the truth, did you come back because you were hurt, or because you knew I'd be here?"
