Haven (War of the Princes) by A. R. Ivanovich

Author:A. R. Ivanovich [Ivanovich, A. R.]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2011-05-26T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 23: The Tower

When I came to, I was in an octagonal room cluttered with pots, trays and tables of cold-withered herbs and vines. Tall windows screened with black iron grating gaped open on every other wall. The chill night air had free passage and I was grateful that in the single lamp mounted beside the door was a bulb instead of a candle.

I was too tired and weak to be aware of much else. I was lying atop Rune’s blanket and there was a dull silver tray with a stale hunk of bread and a tin cup of water beside me.

Fainting left me feeling nauseous and strange, but I wolfed down the bread and gulped down the water without hesitation. The bread was terrible, but it tasted wonderful to me just because it was edible and I was starving. That’s the magic of extreme hunger. The meager food was like a rock in my gnawing stomach, but somehow that was an improvement.

I burrowed into the Dragoon-issue blanket for warmth and fell quickly asleep. I did not dream. I was too exhausted for that. There were no pictures in my mind, no words, only blackness. At some point during that time, I felt warmth upon my fingertips, as though a gentle hand covered my own. My restful, faraway thoughts hummed happily for the comfort and security of a hand holding mine. The warmth faded. My hand grew cold. I doubted that anything but the whisper of a dream had ever visited me.

When I finally blinked open my eyes, I could hardly believe what I saw. I had left three slivers of rock-hard bread crust on my tray. They were gone and replaced by a fresh, crisp bread bowl, filled to the brim with piping hot stew. My tin cup had undergone a transformation too. It was almost overflowing with warm mulled cinnamon cider.

I stared at them for a moment, watching the thin steam curling from their tops, having trouble believing that what I saw was really there in front of me. It was too good to be true, and that made me think of Dylan.

Recoiling, I remembered what the Senior Commander had told me too. They were testing me somehow. Was this one of those tests?

I could still feel the ghost of the hand that held mine while I slept. It had been no cruel claw. It was gentle and comforting. Warmth spread through me from the inside out. I had thought it some kind of dream, but here was the proof. This was no test. Someone had been here to help me, maybe only moments before I had awakened.

Still starving and thirsty as ever, I wasn’t about to let a good thing go to waste. Prying the bread apart, I sopped up the hearty stew, savoring every bite. It was no fancy meal and it was messy to eat, but it was exactly what I had needed. On a normal day I wouldn’t have been able to finish eating

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