He followed her through the market, watching her hips sway back and forth seamlessly with the flow of traffic. Scents swirled around her like colors in the stalls, filling his nose with the leonine golden tinge of saffron and curry, the sharp black bite of pepper and bright red paprika, mixed with the smoky intoxicating amber myrrh. His brain felt slow and sleepy as he followed her, eyes transfixed by the continual sway of her hips.

There was something else in the air, drifting through the air with the slow rhythmic music that pulsed through the twilight. In the last rays of sunlight, the market was beginning to look more otherworldly, the wares less commonplace as the shadows grew and stretched their way through the cobblestone paths. Merchants began lighting lamps, causing the shadows to dance and intertwine with the flickering flames.

He couldn’t remember where they were going, but strangely that didn’t seem to matter anymore as she looked back and smiled.

“Not much farther,” she called back softly.