#esfana

Ellana sat by the river, knees drawn to her chest, bare toes pressing into the cool moss. The water murmured old songs, sun scattering golds across its ripples. Her mind spun restless, caught in worries she could not name, a storm behind her eyes. She almost didn’t hear Esfir’s approach, but she felt it: a hush of movement, the soft sweetness of honey on the breeze.

“Lost in dreams again, lethallin?” Esfir’s voice was a balm, a summer breeze wrapped in song. She crouched beside Ellana, honey stained fingers trailing over her knee, thumb sweeping gentle circles, a warmth that chased the shadows away.

Ellana managed a smile, glancing up at the sunlight dancing in Esfir’s hair. “Not dreams,” she murmured. “Just storms.”

Esfir tsked, tilting Ellana’s chin with a careful touch. “I know a cure for storms,” she teased, lips quirked. “May I?” Her hands framed Ellana’s face, fingertips stroking the shell of her ear, drawing her.

Before Ellana could answer, Esfir kissed her, a slow, lingering promise that tasted of wildflowers, honey and river air. All the world narrowed to that mouth, those clever hands slipping to Ellana’s waist, to her cheek, to her hair. The fog inside her eased, dissolved in the heat and hunger of Esfir’s touch.

“Your mind runs too wild,” she whispered, nuzzling the soft skin beneath Ellana’s jaw, her breath a caress. “Let me give you better things to think about.”