Empress of Ash

He noticed her before she noticed him, which was usually how the worst trouble began.

For a heartbeat the careful distance between them thinned to nothing at all. "You shouldn't have come," she said, and the words landed softer than they were meant to.

She remembered the first time, and the last, and all the ordinary days in between that had somehow mattered more. Nina crossed the room slowly, aware of every step, of the way she was watching without seeming to. "You shouldn't have come," she said, and the words landed softer than they were meant to.

Money could buy a great many things, she had learned, but never the one thing that was wanted most. "You shouldn't have come," she said, and the words landed softer than they were meant to. For a heartbeat the careful distance between them thinned to nothing at all.

For a heartbeat the careful distance between them thinned to nothing at all. She remembered the first time, and the last, and all the ordinary days in between that had somehow mattered more. She remembered the first time, and the last, and all the ordinary days in between that had somehow mattered more.

Money could buy a great many things, she had learned, but never the one thing that was wanted most. "I'm not asking you to forgive me," Nina said. "I'm asking you to listen."

He had built his whole life on being certain. She had a way of making certainty feel like a cage.

"You shouldn't have come," she said, and the words landed softer than they were meant to. Money could buy a great many things, she had learned, but never the one thing that was wanted most. She remembered the first time, and the last, and all the ordinary days in between that had somehow mattered more.

She remembered the first time, and the last, and all the ordinary days in between that had somehow mattered more. She remembered the first time, and the last, and all the ordinary days in between that had somehow mattered more.

The door closed softly, but the sound of it stayed with her for a long time.