Ryn woke like he was falling from the sky.
His breath tore into his lungs all at once. For a split second, he was expecting for the ceiling above him to be the fractured sky, the beam still burning through it.
But it wasn't.
He was in a dim room, lit only by low-burning lanterns set into the walls. But very faintly, could he still see the narrow beam still outside the window.
A quiet shift drew his attention.
Amelia was seated beside the bed.
She hadn't been asleep. Her fingers loosely clasped in her lap as though she had been waiting for the exact moment he stirred.
When his eyes focused on her, he could tell that her shoulders eased, just a little bit.
"You're awake."
"How long?" Ryn asked, pushing himself up slowly. His body was fine, yet it was the pain that throbbed in his head that made him flinch.
"Half a day," she replied. "You collapsed after… whatever that was."
