Vreth noticed the slight flinch but made no mention of it. Instead, he just watched as she touched one of the apples. He smiled a little as it ripened and fell away from his arm. It had been a while since that sort of thing happened. In his last few years, everything he had grown had rotted away. As if his grief were leading his growth.
Another flower bloomed and he gently touched it. The petals shivered and stopped. Instead of blossoming into one of the apples, it remained a flower. Vreth pinched the stem and it came away from the bark. He then held it out to Mal.