While others laughed, Anastasia gasped. She squeezed his hand tightly and looked at him as he walked with her that fall evening, leaves crunching and so doing barrel rolls in the cool wind. He looked surreal.
The shadows had thickened and the purple night sky edged with pink and orange as the sun slowly moved below the horizon and light drained from the sky. The leaves were various shades of yellow, orange and red. The sides of the cobbled street were carpeted with yellow leaves. The air was thick with the sweet smell of overripe apples and oranges on the ground beneath trees. Anastasia took in a lungful of crisp air thanking the deities that Ileus was her mate and that because of him she was inhaling her freedom. "I love you, sweetheart," she murmured and he pressed a kiss at the back of her hand.
