My eyes snap open as I wake, suddenly. I have no idea why, although somewhere in the back of my mind, I wonder if I had a nightmare. A quick glance around reveals I’m in my cot tucked in the corner of our one-room office and home. Privacy curtains made of bed sheets sewn together are drawn around all the cots, since they were the best extra beds we had in Inizion. The royal messenger and his bodyguards are fast asleep, recovering from the bandit attack. I look over to see Mom on her own cot, not far from mine, a couple of her gray-tinged blonde curls sticking out from underneath her blankets. She snores lightly. She only snores when she’s exhausted. Otherwise, everything is still.
All was well.
Despite the peace, I feel uneasy. I must have woken from a nightmare, and I just can’t remember the details. Oh, I’ve had many nightmares, some of which I remember. Most of them involved the small, peaceful town of Inizion burning up in flames. But the faint memories I have of tonight’s nightmare are different in a way I can’t explain.
(more…)
Tamara Rivers 