The realization from the previous day stayed with Iris as she walked through Velaris the following morning.
Velaris was changing.
It was not a dramatic change. There were no crowds flooding the streets or rows of shops opening their doors. Most of the settlement still looked much the same as it had the day before.
But people were moving with more purpose.
A few residents were carrying bundles of wood toward the Village Center. Others had gathered stones and were sorting through them before storing them away. Some people were returning from the outskirts with plants they had collected, while others were talking among themselves about what they had found.
It was small.
Almost ordinary.
And somehow, that made Iris happier than she expected.
Yesterday, she had looked at Velaris and wondered what it needed.
Today, she wanted to know what the people inside it could bring.
She slowed as she passed a small group gathered beside one of the houses.
