Hanging Ribbon

Elias had grown up in a world without rules, at least not the kind that mattered. His family traded goods, moved where the market took them, and lived by instincts rather than traditions. If something felt wrong, you left. If something felt right, you chased it. Simple.

Lia’s world, though—it was built on glass. Fragile, perfect, untouchable. And yet, here she was, walking beside him, breathing the same air of the marketplace as if she weren’t meant to be somewhere else entirely.

She kept glancing over her shoulder, her hands twitching slightly at her sides. He noticed the way she moved—too stiff for someone pretending to be at ease.

“You keep looking over your shoulder,” Elias said, running his fingers along the surface of an apple at one of the stalls. “You expecting someone?”

She hesitated. He could practically hear the thoughts whirling in her head, trying to find the right answer. “I guess I’m just not used to being here like this.”

“Like what?”

“Unnoticed.”

Elias exhaled through his nose, a small huff of amusement. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

Her lips parted slightly, as if she wanted to argue, but she never got the chance.

"Lia!"

Elias didn't miss the way she tensed, her perfect posture locking into something even more controlled. He turned slightly, gaze flicking over the girl who had called her name.

Lady Evangeline.

He knew her type. He’d seen it before—girls raised on whispers and expectations, trained to use smiles as weapons. She was beautiful in the way noble girls often were: pristine, composed, untouched by anything outside of carefully curated perfection.

"I didn’t expect to see you here," Evangeline said, her voice smooth.

Lia responded with the same level of politeness. "Evangeline. I didn’t expect to see you here either."

It was like watching two actors play out a scene they’d rehearsed a thousand times.

Evangeline’s gaze flicked toward him. "And who is this?"

Elias took a slow, deliberate bite of his apple. He wasn’t offended by the question, but the way she asked it, as if he were some curiosity Lia had picked up on a whim, made something tighten in his chest.

Lia hesitated.

That irritated him more than Evangeline’s question. Why did she hesitate? Did she think she needed to explain him?

"This is Elias," she said finally.

Evangeline made a small, knowing hum, as if filing that information away for later. "You must be having such an adventure," she mused, tilting her head. "I can’t imagine wandering around town without any particular purpose."

Elias didn’t even blink. He could hear the underlying tone, the way Evangeline meant to remind Lia that she had a place, and it wasn’t here.

"Sounds exhausting," he said lazily, "all that imagining."

Evangeline blinked, clearly caught off guard. Then she laughed, though it was a little too controlled. "Well," she said, her lips curving into a polite smile, "I suppose I’ll let you get back to… whatever this is."

As she and her companions walked away, Lia exhaled, the sound barely audible.

"You didn’t like that," Elias said, his voice quieter now.

She shook her head. "I didn’t like what it reminded me of."

He didn’t press. He didn’t have to.

Instead, he just walked beside her, letting the silence stretch between them.

The wind tugged at the ribbon still hanging loosely from her dress, and for the first time, she didn’t tie it back.

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