You are in Lakelyn's Room, an attic room at the top of her house. The room is decorated with paintings and tapestries made by your wife. A large desk stands near one wall. There is also a bed nearby, but it doesn't have any sheets on it yet. The room is quiet except for the sounds of wind blowing outside.
The bed isn't covered. You don't know whether to strip off your clothes or not. You wonder if you should get undressed before crawling into the bed. You decide that you will just lie down naked and pretend that nothing happened between the two of you. Once inside the bed, however, you realize that your back hurts terribly; you must have twisted it during your struggle. It would be nice if there were some painkillers lying around somewhere...
There! On the nightstand next to the bed is an old medicine bottle containing a dark liquid. You uncork the bottle and pour the contents into your mouth. When you swallow, the liquid burns like fire as it goes down.
As soon as the burning sensation subsides, you feel completely refreshed. Your muscles aren't sore anymore. The throbbing pain is gone. In fact, the only thing hurting right now is your pride. You sigh quietly. "I think I'll take my time getting dressed," you tell yourself.
It occurs to you that this may not be quite as bad as you thought. After all, you didn't really do anything wrong. You were just trying to help out. And in the end, it was just a silly game anyway. Why shouldn't you have a little fun?
A sudden idea comes to mind. "Why am I being so upset about this?" you ask yourself. "Maybe I'm just taking things too seriously."
After all, it's not as though you actually did anything wrong.
That thought makes you smile.
"Well, let's see what happens when I try to sneak into her bedroom..."
The door creaks open.
You slip into Lakelyn's Room. She's already asleep. Her eyes are closed, but she is breathing slowly and evenly. Asleep or not, you're sure that she won't wake up until morning.
Her blankets are thrown aside. Underneath them, her bare skin gleams under the light of the moon. It looks soft and inviting, just waiting for the touch of someone who knows how to make love.
But you don't want to touch her. You can't bring yourself to do it. Instead, you just stand by the side of the bed and watch her sleep. You don't dare even breathe loudly lest she wakes up.
Your heart beats faster. You feel your blood rushing through your body. Your breathing becomes shallow.
What if something terrible happens while you're here? What if she wakes up?
You look away from her.
This is dangerous. You need to get out of here.
You hurry to the window and throw open the shutters. The cool breeze blows in, ruffling the curtains and stirring up the dust.
Outside the window, the world is still shrouded in darkness.
Your breath catches in your throat. Your pulse pounds against your temples. Sweat trickles down your back.
There! In the distance, the moon shines brightly.
The wind dies down suddenly.
Birdsong fills the air. Stars twinkle in the sky above.
You sit down on the windowsill and stare out at the night. Slowly, you begin to relax.
"All right," you whisper to yourself, "that wasn't so bad after all. Now I just have to wait until tomorrow."
You wait for the sun to rise.
She is sleeping peacefully, but you know better than to trust her to stay that way. She may seem sleepy and vulnerable, but you know that she has more strength and determination than anyone else you've ever met. She could easily snap you in two without even blinking.
And then there's her mother. You don't know much about the old lady, but what you do know is enough to scare you half to death. Even the most powerful wizard couldn't stand up to her. If Lakelyn wakes up and finds you here, you'll never escape alive.
So you keep your distance.
You watch her all night long.
When the first rays of dawn start to creep across the horizon, you finally decide to leave. You close the shutters and head downstairs.
Lakelyn is awake.
She sits in her rocking chair by the fireplace, reading a book. Her expression is grave as she turns the page.
"Good morning," you say quietly.
She looks up at you. "Oh, it's you again!" she says.
Your face reddens as you realize that you forgot to leave last night.
"I'm sorry to bother you, Mrs. Lakelyn, but I wanted to ask you something."
"Go ahead," she replies.
"Do you believe in magic?"
"Magic? Of course not," she answers.
"Then why are you interested in sorcery?"
"I'm just curious."
You nod. "Right. Well, I hope you find your answer."
You walk to the front door. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go home."
"Wait!" she calls after you.
You stop in your tracks.
"Would you like some breakfast?" she asks.
You hesitate. "No, thank you. I'm really not hungry."
