The De'Nauguath Chronicles - Book 1: The Summoner's Daughter

Chapter 13: New

Gods only knew how long I was out.

I didn't dream, but my mind was busy. Thoughts came and went faster than I could make sense of them. Something was sewing connections together. Each time I tried to wake, another spurt came. There were noises from the outside. They echoed in my skull. I knew these noises, but it was as if my ears were learning them for the first time. My sleep lightened as each sound nagged.

Eventually, my eyes opened.

The cloudiness was gone now and I saw things crisply. It was night. A hearth cast carrot-colored light on the whole room. I lifted my head a few inches to glance about. Around the ceiling, there was a string of little crystals, somehow backlit. It wasn't much to see by, but it was better than darkness.

I propped myself up on my elbows. Something pressed into the back of my neck. Someone had put a necklace on me. The stone might've been the same sort as the string of lights, except it was polished and cut finer. I touched it. It seemed stable, not like one of Sirian's transport stones.

The bed was so vast. Three people my size could've comfortably slept in it. After years of making due on the moldy yellow couch, it was odd to rest with my legs entirely stretched out. The blankets were fine and blue. I smelled an odd stew and traced it to a small table. My stomach complained.

I slowly sat up. I expected my head to sing, but it didn't. I winced as I moved, but most of the pain was gone. I put the smallest bit of pressure on my toes on the floor. What a queer feeling, to be barefoot on cool marble. I barely even knew what marble was.

I looked down at my bare feet and my heart jittered. Where were my shoes? I was in my own clothes, but my boots were gone – and the kufri blades along with them. Damn it. Did someone know to check for them?

I tested my knees' strength. They held my weight, but the muscles were still tired. A few pulses of numbness lingered. I waited in place as they resolved. I peered around again, and then I noticed something else: there wasn't a door.

Eh? I looked closer. Even prison cells had a door. My head must've still been too woozy to see it.

I wobbled a few steps in a tight circle. A funny tingling came into my calves. I'd been out a long time, then. I found my shoes, tucked halfway under the bed. I crumpled to the floor to grab them, narrowly avoiding hitting both my head and my knees. I fumbled for the secret nook in a heel and found at least one of the blades. I sighed and put the knife in a pocket before I stood again.

As great as the bed was, the room was immense. Two big armchairs stood near the fireplace. There were a few wardrobes against a wall. Next to them was a cluster of shelves for a collection of books whose ages I couldn't guess. There was also a sideboard. Two walls had a row of windows, and there was a small open balcony on the far side of the room. The sky I saw out the windows was even darker than the blue velvet blankets. This sky shimmered with stars. I took shaking steps to the balcony. The air was cool but still, and it smelled like snow.

There were so many stars, clumps and strings and loners. Some winked, some were steady, some seemed to hide behind others. Longfeather had taught me a few navigation skills to use at night, but the sky here was so full that my knowledge would've been useless. Damn it. I couldn't map it. I couldn't guess its spot on my own wits.

A small noise came from a corner of the room. A section of wall formed a massive opening. I put a hand near the pocket with the knife. As if oblivious to my presence, a woman glided into the room. She carried a jug in one hand and a drinking glass in the other. Methodically, she moved past me and put both on the little table. She took a long time to turn around and face me.