Chapter 4: Carys

"Carys…I didn't mean to-"

"Oh please" she interrupted me smiling, her dimples glowing on her face. They were the only thing that hadn't changed about her. Her face, her hair, everything else was different. Even her scent was different. Instead of berries and flowers, it smelled more like a sweet mixture of lavender and moon sugar.

She raised her hand to my face in the gentlest way possible, "You've grown up, haven't you?"

Her touch was like the sun. I closed my eyes and leaned into Carys' hand, bringing up my own hand to cup hers. "I have," I replied closing my eyes.

Memories of my childhood flooded into my mind. Sun-kissed berries and dimples. Carys was my oldest friend and my first love. She was my neighbor back in the village where I grew up in. At the time, my mother and I were poor. Money was not something easy to come by, as was made certain when Lily, my sister, was born. Carys was the one to bring me out of my misery.

Every day we would run into the nearby forest and find Juniper berries. At the edge of the forest was a small pond, where juniper berries grew. They were too bitter to eat, but Carys loved them anyways, saying that she liked the acquired taste of the berry. I never understood it. I remember her mother, a robust and strong woman of bright red hair. She was always hard at work selling ores in the local market. I guess Filnjar was the husband that she always mentioned. I still remember her mumbling while cooking a pot of skeever stew "That stupid man is never here. Dumps us in this small village, while he goes along his merry way to Riften."

Carys was never happy when her mother complained, but she was the happiest when asked her about her father. Her dimples would reappear and her smile would stretch across her face. She would talk about how strong and talented he was, and of all of the letters that were sent. Every time a courier entered the village, she would scream and run towards him, hands in the air and hands sweating.

Carys only stayed for two years in the village. The day before she left we snuck out of our houses and ran to the pond with the juniper berries. The full moon was over the pond, its light illuminating the branches in a ghastly manner. But they were making Carys' face shine. We were only fifteen when we kissed, but we were old enough to know that it was love. She handed me a necklace that was just like hers, a white and blue marble that her mother made. Carys then left me and the village to never return. She gave me no address to send her letters to her either. She just disappeared, until now.

Carys slid her arms past my face and pulled me into a warm embrace. "I missed you," she said.

I put my arms around her pulling her closer. "Why did you leave me?"

"I'm sorry, Rayner. I'm so sorry. It just ended up happening that way."

"I couldn't contact you. There was no way to even find you."

"I know. I'm sorry."

We stayed like that in each other's arms for a while, until she reminded me of Riske's hunger in a jokingly manner. It was sad to know that I would have to leave her again tomorrow. I promised Rune I would be back as soon as possible, and breaking our promise could not happen, even if Carys had come back.