[flashback] a summer sun. (caelum)

[Lillis]

23rd of Summer, 507AV It had been a swath of royal blue silk that had drawn her to the marketplace on that particular afternoon. A swath of royal blue silk and an appointment with the tailor for a fitting. It was to be the first custom gown she would have had since her arrival in Zeltiva and she could not deny a twitter of girlish delight as she set out with her purse that afternoon. A fitted waste, she pondered while en route, to be worn with a proper whalebone corset. A low scoop neck, slightly off-shoulder, belled sleeves and a flourish of embroidery along the hem. It was a luxury to dream of dresses, and she felt the comfort of familiar trivialities settle over her as she wound through the cobblestone streets, humming quietly under her breath. She gave a series of warm smiles to the patrons of the book shop that she recognized and breathed in an envigorating gulp of warm summer air as a breeze shot down a sidestreet to stir her unruly mass of yellow curls. It was a swath of royal blue silk that had brought her to the marketplace that day, yes,but it was not what she left with. A glimmer of gold caught itself in the corner of her eye as she passed a jewelers shop and, being in no particular hurry, she stepped inside to sate her curiosity of what was housed therein. She saw the pendant immediately, for it seemed to shine brighter than anything else in the room: a burning sun in pure gold that looked as though Syna herself had created it by spilling the molten metal. It glittered in the broken shafts of light that peeked in through the windowpane; the shopkeeper didn't have the opportunity to ask her if she was in need of assistance before she said, "I'll take it." And she brought it home in her empty purse, danging from a black silk cord (for, indeed, she could not afford a chain to go with it) and smiled a broad, pink smile at the thought of giving it to Caelum. It was just perfect for him -- large, and proud and full of fire. Upon her arrival to their shared flat, she wrapped the pendant carefully in an embroidered handkerchief and set it beneath a tin can full of lilies by the kitchen window. Exhausting her funds on the bit of extravagance, she chewed contemplatively at her lower lip as she pondered what, exactly, they would eat for supper. No matter -- a pot of tea and some fresh berries would do the trick. And so she set a pot to boiling and sliced through a batch of thick, summer strawberries, ears perked, listening for his footfalls on the stairs.