A knock woke me the next morning.
I blinked trying to take in my surroundings.
Tartus.
Vyssen's estate.
Right.
I placed a hand behind my neck and stretched my back. I looked over to the large windows that overlooked the back of the dead grounds. Past sunrise, late morning by the look of the sun in the sky.
I sighed, resting my forehead against my knees.
It had been days since I last had a nightmare.
This one was different than the rest. I wasn't in Robyn's mansion, I wasn't watching Damien die.
I was in Blackdown Keep - trapped. The feeling of being utterly alone and trapped was overwhelming.
It was crushing me.
Damien was there and when I looked at him I felt no comfort. I saw Robyn in him as he spoke, as he took my hand and smiled.
But I behaved, kept my head down smiled when I thought it was necessary. I acted as his broken doll - just like he wanted me to.
But at the same time, I could feel myself fading ...
Another knock on the door of the room pulled me from the bed. I looked down at my clothes, I'd passed out before I showered or changed. I was still in the clothes I was riding in the day before, still dirty.
How tired had I been?
On the third knock, I pulled the door open and found Nella standing there with a mug and a bowl in each of her hands. She bowed quickly just like the night before. "Lord Julian said to give you this." She handed me the mug and I recognized the coffee aroma instantly.
I frowned as I looked at it. The fact that he would send someone else to give me coffee of all things perplexed me. The bowl had great smelling oatmeal.
I grabbed them from her hands. "Uh, thank you."
She nodded. "The Lady and Lord would like for you to join them downstairs as soon as possible. Dress warmly as you will be joining them at the Gates."
The famous Gates where the Hounds had come from, I presumed.
I smiled as she left and closed the door after her.
I set the coffee down on a nearby table and began to get ready for the day, as I gobbled down the oatmeal.
I practiced spectering objects as I got ready. I also practiced the barriers bringing them up, taking them down then bringing them up as fast as possible.
Not knowing what I would come up against, I dressed in similar clothes from the day before. This time, they were black. I paired it with some of the accessories from my training clothes.
In the end, I wore the black tights with the layered black shirt and bodice with fingerless gloves that reached my elbows. I even used the leather cuffs I used mainly during our training exercises just in case I'd need to soften some sort of fall with my arms. I tied them tightly to my arms after I finished lacing my tall knee-high boots.
I wasn't taking a chance with the Hellhounds again.
I'd prepare myself as best as I could.
The house was eerily quiet as I made my way downstairs and no one met me as I rounded the stairs.
"In here."
I followed the familiar voice and met Julian in the same room I had walked out of the night before. He was hunched over a writing desk, writing a short letter on expensive looking gold foiled paper. The letterhead had a large drawing - a large shield with a three-headed dog or wolf in the middle.
