Terramancer

Chapter Five

I could not sleep. It was not the bed, for the bed was amazingly comfortable, but rather the sounds. Eighsea was loud. I could hear the sounds of carriages clattering outside my window, and the sounds of people talking and laughing loudly. Okphis was quiet at night. In Okphis, the only sound that I could hear from my small room in the house was crickets chirping and sometimes the sound of birdsong.

I got out of bed. I should not have been this restless. I was exhausted from the day I had had; I could feel it in my limbs, in my brain. My body wanted to sleep so badly, but could not for some reason I did not understand.

I got out of the bed, my body screaming in protest. Maybe going for a walk would calm my mind. I put on the slippers that Ece had left in my room and walked out into the hallway.

Light from the windows speckled the carpet in the hallway, giving me enough light to be able to see without needing to cast a spell. I walked up the hallway, and then back down it again. I did not want to lose the location of my bedroom, for I knew both Iza and Ece would laugh at me, and I could not tolerate that. So, to avoid that situation, I paced up and down the hallway, hoping that eventually my body would completely wear out so that I'd be able to get the rest I so desired.

After about an hour of pacing later, I could feel my body finally tire. I yawned, and walked back down the hallway, towards my room. I had my hand on the doorknob when I heard the sound of a floorboard creak behind me. I whipped around and came face-to-face with Ece.

His lips were glistening. I looked closer, and saw that they were covered in blood. The blood had dripped down onto his chin, and had stained his clothes. His hair was wild and covered in leaves, and his pupils had been reduced down to barely a pinprick, as if they had drowned in the sea of his irises.

I gasped, and clapped my hand over my mouth. Ece simply stared at me, looking mildly horrified.

I removed my hand from my mouth. "I...are you okay?" I asked, slightly out of breath.

Ece's breathing was ragged. "I'm fine, Mary Sue," he replied, his voice like shards of broken glass. "I just tripped whilst taking a walk in the garden. I must have bitten my lip."

I stared into his pale blue eyes. He was beautiful in this light, even covered in blood, sweat, and half the garden. He ran a hand through his dishevelled hair.

"Listen," he began. "I would really appreciate if you did not tell anyone about this. Especially not that tismaen Izasior."

"I..." His request was odd. "Of course," I said. "I won't tell anyone."

Ece let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Mary Sue," he said. Then, he tilted his head to the side. "What are you doing up at this time?"

"I could not sleep," I replied. "Eighsea is so loud, it's a wonder anyone can sleep at all."

Ece gave me a smile, a genuine one. Not a smirk or a sneer, but an actual smile. The blood that painted his lips turned the smile into something creepy. "You get used to the noise," he said. "It takes a while though."

"Did it take you a while to get used to the noise?" I asked.

"No," he replied. "I was born into the bustle of Eighsea."

"Oh," I said. "Then how do you know I'll get used to it?"

"I just do." Ece let out a little chuckle. Then, he looked down at himself, as if noticing how much blood was on him for the first time. "Damn. Must've fallen harder than I thought. I should take a bath and get this blood off me." He did not wait for a reply, and instead turned around and walked down the hallway, far more hurriedly than I would have thought necessary.