The Lovers of Life

CHAPTER XIII - THE NIGHT'S WIFE

"What I've felt
What I've known
Never shined through in what I've shown
Never be
Never see
Won't see what might have been
What I've felt
What I've known
Never shined through in what I've shown
Never free
Never me
So I dub thee unforgiven"

The Unforgiven – The Black Album  – Metallica

When I woke up, I found that I was lying in a rather comfortable bed. I glanced around the huge room. I noticed a fire glowing red in a grate at the opposite end of the room, a few scattered sofas, wide windows, a writing desk. It seemed the room was used for everything. But looking around me was tiring. Everything was different. I buried my head in the soft pillow and fell asleep again.

There was a loud clatter, a crash and the noise of breaking china. I jerked awake and sat up in the bed. A pretty woman was standing near a low table in front of the grate. She had just knocked down a blue vase with a basket she was carrying. She was staring at me horrified. She had long wavy auburn hair and wide intelligent eyes. She wore a simple green dress and there were white gladioluses in the basket she held. I noticed a vase near a window with dry flowers in it. Undoubtedly she had intended to change the flowers in that vase when she had knocked down the other one on her way to the window.

"I'm so sorry I woke you up!" she wispered setting the basket down and hurrying towards me. "Lusaka said we were to disturb you on no account! Are you all right, Anastasia?"

"Yes. Who are you?" I asked hoping I didn't sound rude.

"Maryann," she replied with a broad smile.

"Oh, hi Maryann. Where is Lusaka?"

"He just left for the World of the Living. He went to see his cousin Helena – he was furious. He said something about her allowing Myrrha to stay with her father. Lusaka says Dalila was not to know about Myrrha being alive and that now Dalila knew and..."

But I didn't listen to Maryann's explanations further. So Julien had decided to keep Myrrha with him. Good. I glanced around the wide room. The loft was cosy and well furnished. After a while, I turned my attention back to Maryann's speech.

"Lusaka said you wouldn't wake until he came back, but I woke you up. I'm very sorry. Do you want me to go away now so that you might sleep?"

"Oh, no. If I sleep more, I won't wake up."

"Lusaka often says that he went to sleep hoping he'd never wake up, but he always did in the end."

"One day he won't," I said automatically.

Maryann smiled down at me like a babysitter smiling down on a naïve child. Then she helped me to my feet and showed me to a chest in a corner of the room. She opened it and pulled out a dress.

"Here, maybe you'd like to get out of that nightdress. This frock of mine ought to fit."

"Thanks," I said pulling on the fresh clothing. "It's very nice."

Maryann showed me around the flat, explaining how they had recently redone the whole inside. She brought me out on the balcony and showed me the sights.

"There," she said pointing in distant fields, "that's Lusaka's country place. He sometimes goes there on his own or with a couple of friends or strangers. He kind of likes it there."

"Seems like a nice place," I agreed staring at the small cottage, "have you already been there?"

"Yes, but never with Lusaka," she said slightly disappointed.